Research and consultancy company Gartner announced that worldwide PC shipments decreased by 9 percent compared to the previous year, falling to 64.3 million units. This means that there has been eight consecutive quarters of decline for the global PC market. However, this trend may change from the next quarter.According to Gartner Analyst Director Mikako Kitagawa, who commented on the data, the PC market has already hit rock bottom. Kitagawa said in a statement: “Seasonal demand from the education market increased shipments in the third quarter, but enterprise PC demand remained weak, offsetting some growth. “Vendors have also made consistent progress in reducing PC inventory, and inventory is expected to return to normal by the end of 2023 unless holiday sales collapse.”
The comments at the end of this quote are interesting. Especially given the inflation rate and cost of living pressures people are facing.
Apple is the biggest loser
Among all PC vendors, on the other hand, only HP saw growth in shipments, a rather modest 6.4 percent. Surprisingly, Apple saw the biggest drop in shipments, with a 24.2 percent drop. This is surprising because Apple’s shipments have been rising this year while its competitors have been seeing declines. In terms of market share, Lenovo was the leader with 25.1 percent, while Apple reduced its market share from 11.7 percent to 9.7 percent.On the other hand, according to experts, the worst days may be behind us. The commercial PC market appears ready for the next refresh cycle, driven by Windows 11 upgrades. PCs purchased during the pandemic are also entering the renewal cycle, and therefore it is thought that demands will begin to accumulate on the consumer side. Gartner expects to see 4.9 percent growth in the worldwide PC market in 2024, with projected growth in the business and consumer segments.
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