KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 12): Global PC shipments totalled 68 million units in the third quarter of 2022, down 19.5% from the third quarter of 2021, according to Gartner Inc.
In its preliminary results published on Monday (Oct 10), the consulting firm said this was the steepest market decline since Gartner began tracking the PC market in the mid-1990s and the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline.
Gartner director analyst Mikako Kitagawa said this quarter’s results could mark a historic slowdown for the PC market.
She said that while supply chain disruptions have finally eased, high inventory has now become a major issue given weak PC demand in both the consumer and business markets.
“Back-to-school sales ended with disappointing results despite massive promotions and price drops, due to a lack of need as many consumers had purchased new PCs in the last two years.
“On the business side, geopolitical and economic uncertainties led to more selective IT spending, and PCs were not at the top of the priority list,” she said.
Gartner said the top three vendors in the worldwide PC market remained unchanged in the third quarter of 2022, with Lenovo maintaining the No 1 spot in shipments with a 25.2% market share
The firm said Lenovo gained market share compared to a year ago, although shipments declined year-over-year.
While the company’s overall shipments were down in all regions except Canada, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) desktop market saw growth, fuelled by production beginning in Lenovo’s first in-house manufacturing facility in Europe which opened in Hungary in June 2022.
It said HP experienced a challenging quarter with a sharp decline in overall global shipments.
HP recorded growth in select regions in the desktop market, but overall laptop shipments suffered declines.
Dell narrowed its market share difference from HP, recording year-over-year growth in the desktop market in all regions except the Asia Pacific. However, Dell’s laptop shipments declined in all regions except for Japan.
Regional overview
The US PC market declined 17.3% in the third quarter of 2022, the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year shipment decline.
Slowed laptop sales drove the overall US market down, but the desktop market showed modest growth driven by pent-up demand among businesses as well as public sector purchases.
Kitagawa said inflation is the biggest concern in the US market, but smaller businesses are showing relative optimism about macroeconomic conditions.
“While laptop demand among large enterprises sharply decreased in the third quarter of 2022, small and mid-sized businesses did not show as steep of a drop,” she said.
Dell secured the top spot in the US PC market based on shipments with a 26.8% market share, while HP followed with a 23.2% share.