According to preliminary results from the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, global PC shipments experienced a significant decline of 13.4% year over year during the second quarter of 2023 (2Q23).
Sixth Consecutive Quarter of Contraction
Following a 29% year-over-year decline in Q1 2023, global PC shipments faced their sixth consecutive quarter of contraction. This decline can be attributed to various factors such as macroeconomic headwinds, weak demand from both the consumer and commercial sectors, and a shift in IT budgets away from device purchases.
Despite these challenges, the market performed slightly better than expected for the quarter. The overall weak demand in the PC market has resulted in inventory levels remaining higher than anticipated.
This includes finished systems at the channel level and throughout the supply chain. The majority of leading PC companies experienced double-digit declines during the quarter, with the exception of Apple and HP Inc.
Apple and HP Inc.’s Performance
Apple benefitted from a favorable year-over-year comparison as the company faced supply issues during 2Q22 due to COVID-related shutdowns in the supply chain.
On the other hand, HP Inc. has dealt with an oversupply of inventory over the past year and is now approaching normalized levels, allowing its growth rate to shine during this downturn.
Inventory Challenges and Caution Regarding New Systems
Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, highlighted that elevated channel and component inventory are once again impacting the market.
Although these issues are slowly easing, many component suppliers are offering reduced pricing to clear their inventory. Due to a decrease in demand, PC manufacturers and distributors are hesitant to launch new systems.
Commenting on the results, Ryan Reith, group vice president for IDC’s Client Device Trackers, said:
The PC industry has faced an extremely challenging roller coaster of supply and demand over the past five years. Companies are hesitant to make big bets on a market rebound, not wanting to be caught with short supply like in 2020 and 2021.
On the consumer side, we see a return to pre-pandemic habits where computing needs are shared across multiple devices, with the consumer wallet favoring smartphones over PCs. On the commercial side, workforce reductions and the introduction of generative AI add confusion to where to allocate an already reduced budget.