Worldwide PC shipments continued to fall in the third quarter, says Gartner

The analyst company Gartner has announced that worldwide PC shipments decreased by 9% year-over-year to 64.3 million units. This is the eighth consecutive quarter of decline for the global PC market but this trend could be bucked next quarter.

Commenting on the data, Mikako Kitagawa, Director Analyst at Gartner, said:

‘There is evidence that the PC market’s decline has finally bottomed out. Seasonal demand from the education market boosted shipments in the third quarter, although enterprise PC demand remained weak, offsetting some growth. Vendors also made consistent progress towards reducing PC inventory, with inventory expected to return to normal by the end of 2023, as long as holiday sales do not collapse.’

The comments at the end of that quote are interesting. Given the rate of inflation and the cost of living pressures people face, budgets could still be squeezed to the point where people still cut back on their PC spending.

Of all of the PC vendors, only HP saw a growth in shipments and this was a pretty modest 6.4%. Surprisingly, Apple saw the biggest decline in shipments with a decrease of 24.2%. This is pretty surprising because Apple’s shipments have been holding up this year while the competition has seen decreases.

Lenovo saw the most shipments at 16.1 million units shipped, representing 25.1% of the total market share. Apple had 9.7% of the market share down from 11.7%.

According to Gartner, Apple's decline in shipments is attributed to a significant increase in the volume of shipments in the third quarter last year after supply disruptions had eased. It said that students and teachers were the main drivers back then as the new academic year was beginning.

Speaking on future prospects, Kitagawa said:

‘The good news for PC vendors is that the worst could be over by the end of 2023. The business PC market is ready for the next replacement cycle, driven by the Windows 11 upgrades. Consumer PC demand should also begin to recover as PCs purchased during the pandemic are entering the early stages of a refresh cycle.’

In 2024, Gartner is expected to see a 4.9% growth in the worldwide PC market with growth predicted in the business and consumer segments.

Source: Gartner