Global PC shipments fell 15% year-on-year to 71.3 million units in the second quarter of 2022 (2Q22), according to preliminary results from the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Personal Computing Device Tracker quarterly report.
This is the second quarter in a row with lower shipments after two years of growth. The decline turned out to be worse than expected as supplies and logistics were further exacerbated by the pandemic in China and ongoing macroeconomic problems.
“Recession fears continue to rise and dampen demand across all segments,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for mobile device trackers at IDC. “Consumer demand for PCs has weakened in the near term and is in danger of disappearing in the long term as consumers become more careful about their spending and opt for device types such as phones and tablets again. Meanwhile, commercial demand has been more resilient, although it has also declined as businesses delay purchases.”
Despite the recent decline and weaker demand, total PC volume is still comparable to the start of the pandemic, when volumes reached 74.3 million in the second quarter of 2020, and the market is still well above pre-pandemic levels as volumes in the second quarter 2018 and 2019 were 62.1 million and 65.1 million units, respectively.
“Amid growing demand for public PCs and stagnant consumer demand, the US PC market is set to see another quarter of double-digit declines in most segments,” said Neha Mahajan, product research manager for IDC’s Devices and Displays division. “Commercial demand for PCs is also showing signs of slowing, but pockets of growth are still expected in some commercial sub-segments, where demand for low-end and mid-range Windows devices remains strong and unfilled.”
Although the rankings among the top 3 companies have not changed, Apple managed to drop to the fifth position, where ASUS is in the lead, as production decreased during the quarter. As a result, Acer ended up in 4th place on this list.
IDC expects Apple to ramp up production in the second half of the year unless there are any further supply issues.
