The worldwide market for personal computers (PCs) faced a 7.6 percent year-over-year dip in shipments during the third quarter of 2023 (3Q23), reaching 68.2 million PCs shipped, IDC said.
However, amidst continued economic challenges and subdued demand, there are signs of a slow recovery in the PC industry, with increased shipments over the past two quarters, International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker said.
Despite the decline, recent months have seen a reduction in PC inventory, bringing it close to healthy levels across most channels. Nevertheless, pricing pressure remains a concern, particularly in the consumer and business sectors.
Most major vendors observed double-digit declines, with Apple’s larger dip attributed to unfavorable year-over-year comparisons due to production disruptions during 3Q22 caused by the pandemic. On the other hand, HP experienced growth driven by inventory normalization.
Leading PC brands are: Lenovo (16 million), HP (13.5 million), Dell (10.3 million), Apple (7.2 million), Asus (4.9 million), and others (16.3 million) during the third quarter.
Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, noted, “The PC industry is on a slow path to recovery as a device refresh cycle and end of support for Windows 10 will help drive sales in the second half of 2024 and beyond. In the meantime, the PC industry will unfortunately experience more pain.”
He highlighted the potential shift in procurement and production options outside of China as a significant industry concern, second only to AI integration within PCs.
Linn Huang, research vice president, Devices & Displays at IDC, emphasized the transformative potential of generative AI for the PC industry.
“Generative AI could be a watershed moment for the PC industry. Despite the complete articulation of use cases still pending, the interest in AI-integrated PCs is strong. These AI-driven PCs hold promise in personalizing user experiences while preserving data privacy and sovereignty. The introduction of such devices in the coming year is anticipated to significantly impact overall selling prices, potentially steering the PC industry towards a new era,” Linn Huang said.
