Apple’s PC shipments fell 40.5% in the first quarter, marking a difficult start to the year for PC makers that still face a glut of unsold inventory.
Shipments of all PC manufacturers combined fell 29% to 56.9 million units — down below early 2019 levels — as the surge in demand driven by pandemic-era remote work evaporated, according to IDC’s latest report.
Among the market leaders, Lenovo and Dell reported declines of more than 30%, while HP Inc shipments fell 24.2%. No major brand was spared from the slowdown, with Asustek Computer rounding out the top five, down 30.3%.
A slowdown in consumer spending over the past year has led to a double-digit decline in smartphone shipments and a glut among the world’s largest memory chip suppliers. Samsung Electronics, which provides memory for mobile devices as well as desktop and laptop computers, announced last week that it had cut memory production after posting the lowest profit since the 2009 financial crisis.
Looking ahead to 2024, IDC researchers anticipate a potential rebound for PC makers, driven by a combination of aging hardware that will need to be replaced and an improving global economy.
Personal equipment sales
