PC Shipments Begin to Slow Following Two Years of Strong Growth, According to IDC

[AleksandarK]

Global shipments of traditional PCs, including desktops, notebooks, and workstations, declined 5.1% in the first quarter of 2022 (1Q22) but exceeded earlier forecasts, according to preliminary results from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. The PC market is coming off two years of double-digit growth, so while the first quarter decline is a change in this momentum, it doesn't mean the industry is in a downward spiral. Despite ongoing supply chain and logistical challenges, vendors still shipped 80.5 million PCs during the quarter. The 1Q22 volume marks the seventh consecutive quarter where global shipments surpassed 80 million, a feat not seen since 2012.

"The focus shouldn't be on the year-over-year decline in PC volumes because that was to be expected. The focus should be on the PC industry managing to ship more than 80 million PCs at a time when logistics and supply chain are still a mess, accompanied by numerous geopolitical and pandemic-related challenges," said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "We have witnessed some slowdown in both the education and consumer markets, but all indicators show demand for commercial PCs remains very strong. We also believe that the consumer market will pick up again in the near future. The result of 1Q22 was PC shipment volumes that were near record levels for a first quarter."



The rankings among the top vendors remained unchanged in 1Q22 compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. Lenovo remained the top company with 22.7% market share, followed by HP Inc., Dell Technologies, and Apple. ASUS and Acer tied for the number 5 position in 1Q22. Dell, Apple, and ASUS were the only top-tier vendors that saw year-over-year shipment growth. As a result of the on-going supply chain shortages and a challenging comparison to a strong 1Q21, notebook PCs saw a year-over-year decline while desktops grew slightly.

"Even as parts of the market slow due to demand saturation and rising costs, we still see some silver linings in a market that has reached an inflection point towards a slower pace of growth," said Jay Chou, research manager for IDC's Quarterly PC Monitor Tracker. "Aside from commercial spending on PCs, there are still emerging markets where demand had been neglected in the earlier periods of the pandemic, and higher end consumer demand also has held up."

Notes:

• Some IDC estimates prior to financial earnings reports. Data for all companies are reported for calendar periods.
• Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the company/brand under which they are sold.
• Traditional PCs include Desktops, Notebooks, and Workstations and do not include Tablets

or x86 Servers. Detachable Tablets and Slate Tablets are part of the Personal Computing Device Tracker but are not addressed in this press release.

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker gathers detailed market data in over 90 countries. The research includes historical and forecast trend analysis among other data.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[ModEl4]

Around 7 million desktops and 21 million notebooks per month more or less (with the usual seasonality) for those that interested:

IDC - Personal Computing Devices Market Insights

IDC examines consumer markets by devices, applications, networks, and services to provide complete solutions for succeeding in these expanding markets.

www.idc.com

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

I hate PR like this, its misleading unless you know whats actually being said. Some will see the decline by 5.1% as the sky if falling, while others will just meh and move along. The fact that they have to explain that the market is not in a downward spiral makes me believe this particular wording is intentional, to put fear in the eyes of investors.

So yea I'd call this FUD.

Also, they are equating marketshare to PCs shipped, this is again misleading so much that it hurts my brain to sort it out.

 

[BSim500]

Probably a lot of people figuring out how crap W11 is and realising they don't need to throw away a perfectly good computer after all...

 

[kapone32]

I feel that the prices are what drove the decline. GPUs are still too expensive and everyone is waiting for 6000 Desktop APUs on the low end.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

I hate PR like this, its misleading unless you know whats actually being said. Some will see the decline by 5.1% as the sky if falling, while others will just meh and move along. The fact that they have to explain that the market is not in a downward spiral makes me believe this particular wording is intentional, to put fear in the eyes of investors.

So yea I'd call this FUD.

Also, they are equating marketshare to PCs shipped, this is again misleading so much that it hurts my brain to sort it out.

Every time we hear ANYTHING negative in the PC space, claims that it is "FUD" are thrown out. They stated that despite the decrease the market is not ina downward spiral, somehow this is FUD to stoke fear in investors. Gimme a break LOL

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

The fact that they have to explain that the market is not in a downward spiral makes me believe this particular wording is intentional, to put fear in the eyes of investors.

Every time we hear ANYTHING negative in the PC space, claims that it is "FUD" are thrown out. They stated that despite the decrease the market is not ina downward spiral, somehow this is FUD to stoke fear in investors. Gimme a break LOL

When PR tries confuse people with numbers, they always try to make it sound worse than it actually is. Investors always look for the slightest sign that something will go belly up to pounce on an opportunity. IMO, if they didnt 'splain it', investors on both sides (those that profit from loss or failures and those that dont) would panic. You are not wrong from where you sit, some might even see this PR as over explaining.

 

[Fatalfury]

We also believe that the consumer market will pick up again in the near future.

yea When Consumer Products like Gaming GPUs reach MSRP.. the consumers will actually pickup.