Dramatic slowdown for PC markets
The inflation and financial worries show in sales of PCs that has noted the steepest decline since the mid-1990s and the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline, data from research and marketing firm Gartner show. Worldwide PC shipments totalled 68 million units in the third quarter of 2022, a 19.5% decrease from the third quarter of 2021.
“This quarter’s results could mark a historic slowdown for the PC market,” says Mikako Kitagawa, Director Analyst at Gartner.
“While supply chain disruptions have finally eased, high inventory has now become a major issue given weak PC demand in both the consumer and business markets.”
“Back to school sales ended with disappointing results despite massive promotions and price drops, due to a lack of need as many consumers had purchased new PCs in the last two years.”
“On the business side, geopolitical and economic uncertainties led to more selective IT spending, and PCs were not at the top of the priority list.”
The top three vendors in the worldwide PC market remained unchanged in the third quarter of 2022, with Lenovo maintaining the No. 1 spot in shipments with 25.2% market share followed by HP 18.7%, Dell 17.7%, Apple 8.5% and Asus 8.2%.
The US PC market declined 17.3% in the third quarter of 2022, the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year shipment decline. Slowed laptop sales drove the overall US market down, but the desktop market showed modest growth driven by pent up demand among businesses as well as public sector purchases, the report shows.
“Inflation is the biggest concern in the U.S. market, but smaller businesses are showing relative optimism about macroeconomic conditions,” said Kitagawa. “While laptop demand among large enterprises sharply decreased in the third quarter of 2022, small and midsize businesses did not show as steep of a drop.”
The EMEA PC market decreased 26.4% year-over-year in the third quarter, reaching 17 million units – the steepest decline among all regions. This is the third negative quarter for the EMEA PC market following a boom at the start of the pandemic, Gartner says.
“Multiple factors led to significant deterioration in the EMEA PC market, including challenging macroeconomic conditions, declining business and consumer demand and high levels of inventory,” said Kitagawa.
“Additionally, many PC vendors shuttered operations in Russia in the first two quarters of this year, which negatively impacted overall shipments and is particularly visible across year-to-year comparisons.”
Excluding Japan, the Asia Pacific market declined 16.6% year-over-year, largely due to slowed shipments in China.
“In the third quarter of 2021, China had almost fully resumed normal daily life and economic activity, but lockdowns this year across different cities slowed business operations and led to decreased PC demand across the government, enterprise and consumer markets.”
Moonshot News is an independent European news website for all IT, Media and Advertising professionals, powered by women and with a focus on driving the narrative for diversity, inclusion and gender equality in the industry.
Our mission is to provide top and unbiased information for all professionals and to make sure that women get their fair share of voice in the news and in the spotlight!
We produce original content, news articles, a curated calendar of industry events and a database of women IT, Media and Advertising associations.
