Rising interest rates, slowdowns in hiring and expectations of an early recession in 2023, have contributed to the decline in global PC shipments.
Global personal computer (PC) shipments fell by 16% in 2022 to 285.1 million units compared to last year, when all end-user segments saw peak demand. The total 2022 shipments continued to peak the figure in 2019 by 7%.
Research firm Canalys reported that notebook shipments witnessed a drop of 19% to 223.8 million units in 2022. The global PC market registered the fourth consecutive quarter of decline in the fourth quarter with the total shipments of desktops and notebooks down by 29% to 65.4 million units.
On a quarterly basis, notebooks recorded the steepest decline of 30% to 51.4 million units in the December quarter, while desktops slipped by 24% to 14.1 million units for the same quarter. Overall, desktops fell by 7% to 61.3 million units across the year, the research firm’s data showed.
Despite providing heavy discounts, vendors and retailers failed to stimulate consumer spending to drive significant new sell-in. Dutt added that with rising costs for energy and basic goods in key markets such as the US and Europe, expenditure on big-ticket items like PCs has taken a back seat as consumers are prepared to delay refreshes.
“As expected, the global PC market faced further headwinds in Q4 to round out what has been a difficult 2022,” said Ishan Dutt, senior analyst, at Canalys. He added that rising interest rates, slowdowns in hiring and expectations of an early recession in 2023, have contributed to the falling numbers.
Lenovo managed to grab the top spot with 68.1 million units sold in 2022, a 17% decline compared to 2021. HP ranked second, with a 25% decline to 55.2 million units in 2022. Dell recorded a 16% fall to 49.7 million units. Apple ended 2022 with 27.2 million Macs shipped for a 6% decline, while Asus rounded out the top five with a modest decline of 4% compared to its 2021 shipments.
“Once businesses and consumers ride out the storm, we expect delayed purchases to begin boosting the market in late 2023, with momentum picking up in 2024,” reported Dutt.
