• PC Shipments: Five largest computer manufacturers with double-digit declines
• Apple posts biggest drop in PC shipments in first quarter
• Weak demand, excess inventories and a deteriorating macroeconomic environment are weighing on
Global PC shipments totaled 56.9 million, a 29 percent decrease from the same quarter last year, according to preliminary results from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. The top five computer manufacturers – Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple and ASUS – all posted double-digit declines.
PC Shipments: Biggest manufacturers with double-digit declines
Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo, which still has the largest market share among traditional PC companies with 22.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023 (up from 22.8 percent in Q1 2022), shipped 12.7 million devices in the first quarter, according to IDC , down 30.3 percent from 18.3 million PCs in the prior-year quarter.
HP’s shipments fell 24.2 percent from 15.8 million in Q1 2022 to 12 million units in the first quarter of this year. The US PC manufacturer was able to increase its market share from 19.7 percent to 21.1 percent.
Dell saw shipments fall from 13.7 million units in the year-ago quarter to 9.5 million in the first quarter of 2023, down 31 percent. In addition, the US computer manufacturer had to give up market shares: after 17.1 percent in the same period last year, it was 16.7 percent in Q1 2023.
Meanwhile, ASUS’ market share fell only slightly from 6.9 to 6.8 percent. However, the Taiwanese manufacturer of computer hardware had to cope with a drop of 30.3 percent in deliveries. ASUS shipped just 3.9 million units in the first quarter, down from 5.6 million PCs in the same period last year.
Apple posts biggest drop in PC shipments
But one of the companies stood out particularly negatively. According to IDC, Apple’s global computer shipments fell 40.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023. After 6.9 million units in Q1 2022, the iGroup delivered only 4.1 million devices in the first quarter of this year – i.e. 2.8 million units fewer than in the same period last year. The PC market share fell to 7.2 percent from 8.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022.
However, the results are not entirely unexpected. Business with Mac computers fell by more than a quarter from 10.8 to 7.7 billion US dollars in the fourth quarter of 2022, which, according to CFO Luca Maestri, was the same given the weak economy and the particularly good business in the previous year had been expected. As CNBC reports, Maestri also said in February that Apple expects double-digit declines in Mac and iPad sales in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter last year.
Problems are likely to continue for the time being
IDC cites “weak demand, excess inventory and a deteriorating macroeconomic climate” as reasons for the significant decline in shipments of conventional PCs in the first quarter of 2023. “The preliminary results also provided a coda for the era of COVID-driven demand and at least a temporary return to pre-COVID patterns,” the IDC wrote.
Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s mobility and consumer device trackers, explained that while channel inventory levels have been depleted in recent months, they remain “well above the healthy four to six week range.” “Even with deep discounts, distribution channels and PC manufacturers can expect the increased inventory levels to continue through mid-year and possibly into the third quarter.”
However, the pause in growth and demand also offers supply chains room for change. According to IDC, many factories are beginning to look at production options outside of China and PC manufacturers are revising their plans for the rest of the year. In the near future, however, IDC expects PC shipments to remain weak for the time being, before growth should resume towards the end of the year. This could be supported by an expected improvement in the global economy and that the installed base should start considering an upgrade to Windows 11.
“By 2024, an aging installed base will be in for refreshment,” said Linn Huang, research vice president, devices and displays at IDC. “If the economy is on an uptrend by then, we expect significant upside potential for the market as consumers seek to update, schools seek to replace worn-out Chromebooks, and businesses migrate to Windows 11.” However, if the recession in the key markets drags on into next year, a recovery could prove difficult, according to the expert.
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