After two years of steady and painful decline, the personal computer (PC) industry appears to have hit rock bottom.According to a report released by market research firm Gartner on Monday, global PC manufacturers shipped 64.3 million units in the third quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 9%, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of decline. However, this quarter was better than the 16.6% decline in the second quarter.


Over the past two years, the PC industry has been hit by the economic slowdown, inflation, rising interest rates and other factors related to the new crown epidemic.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the PC market performed well as consumers working and entertaining at home boosted demand for PCs. But then, the situation changed. As prices and financing costs both rise, inflationary pressure and high interest rates suppress PC demand. PC shipments plummeted to their lowest levels in decades.

In January, Gartner reported that PC shipments fell 28.5% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of last year, the largest year-over-year decline since the company began tracking PC shipments in the mid-1990s.

Specifically, Apple's shipments in the third quarter of this year fell the most among major PC manufacturers, down 24.2% from the same period last year. Gartner said this sharp decline was mainly due to Apple's better shipment performance in the third quarter of last year.

In addition, HP's shipments increased by 6.4% and was the only manufacturer to achieve growth in the third quarter. Lenovo Group maintains its first position with a global market share of 25.1%.


The PC market has hit bottom

The PC market appears to be on the mend as inventory levels decline and more people seek newer PCs.

Gartner predicts that the PC market should begin to recover in the fourth quarter of this year, with shipments expected to grow 4.9% in 2024.

"There is evidence that the decline in the PC market has finally bottomed out," Gartner research director Mikako Kitagawa said in a statement.

"Seasonal demand from the education market boosted shipments in the third quarter, although enterprise PC demand remained weak, offsetting some of the growth. Suppliers have also made continued progress in reducing PC inventory, and as long as holiday sales do not collapse, inventory is expected to normalize by the end of 2023," she added.

"The good news for PC vendors is that the worst may be over by the end of 2023," Kitagawa said. "Driven by Windows 11 upgrades, the commercial PC market is ready for the next replacement cycle. Consumer demand for PCs will also begin to recover, as PCs purchased during the epidemic are entering the early stages of the refresh cycle."

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