IDC: Global PC Shipments Declined 15 Percent in The Second Quarter

Things are not looking too rosy for the global PC market right now. It seems like everyone is beginning to cinch up their belts, while gritting their teeth. It was predicted at the end of 2021 that the pandemic-driven sales bonanza would be coming to an end in 2022. However, now that we’re two quarters into the year, things are playing out worse than expected. That’s the gist of IDC’s second quarter report on the PC market, which paints a somber picture. Shipments declined for the second quarter in a row following two years on nonstop growth. That’s not a huge surprise. However, the rate of the decline was 15.3 percent year-over-year, which is larger than expected.

IDC’s report states that last quarter 71.3 million PCs were shipped to customers. That represents a steep decline from a year ago. IDC’s previous report on the first quarter showed PC shipments had also declined 5.1 percent. However, 80 million PCs were still shipped worldwide. This seems to indicate a trend, and one that is easy to understand. With a system ruled by supply and demand, both are flagging right now. People are becoming less inclined to splurge on PCs thanks to inflation, while the supply is being affected by COVID-19 lockdowns and “macroeconomic headwinds.”

IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani summarized the situation bluntly. “Consumer demand for PCs has weakened in the near term and is at risk of perishing in the long term as consumers become more cautious about their spending and once again grow accustomed to computing across device types such as phones and tablets,” he said. Ubrani said one bright spot was commercial demand has remained “robust.” However, he also said a lot of companies are also delaying purchases.

Despite the recent downturn, there’s some semi-good news in the report. Mainly it’s that sales have mostly returned to their pre-pandemic levels. For example, in the second quarter of 2020 there were 74.3 million PCs. This quarter’s numbers are just shy of that number at 71.3 million. Additionally, the market is currently above pre-pandemic numbers too. For example, in 2018 and 2019 PC shipments totaled 62.1 million and 65.1 million units respectively.

The less than spectacular quarter had no impact on the ranking of the top three biggest companies. However, Apple was above to move up one spot to finally make into the top five for the first time. It is now tied with Asus though, as they are both listed as the fifth biggest PC company. That seems like a big deal for Apple, which has traditionally lagged behind its Windows-based competition. Acer Corp did drop one position, and now sits at fourth on the list.

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