Recession leads global PC shipments to sharpest fall in 9 years in Q2 2022, report

Global PC shipment saw its sharpest decline in 9 years in the April-June quarter of CY2022, market researcher Gartner revealed in its preliminary results, published Tuesday. A total of 72 million PCs were shipped worldwide during the quarter, which was 12.6% less than a year ago.  Europe, the Middle East, and Africa saw the highest 18% year-on-year (YoY) decline, while in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) PC shipments declined by 5.2%. 

Gartner’s findings are in line with International Data Corporation’s (IDC) preliminary results, published Monday, and show an even higher decline of 15.3% in global PC shipments during the quarter. 

Though Gartner’s results don't specifically dwell on the India region, which has been one of the fastest-growing PC markets after the pandemic, Navkendar Singh, Research Director at IDC India pointed out that growth in the consumer segment has slowed down in India too. The commercial segment is still hanging on to some growth. 

The recession has impacted buyer sentiments. “Cautious spending by consumers and return to regular devices like smartphones as schools open up” are some of the other factors that have impacted the market, according to Singh. 

“Commercial segment is doing well for now. But it may also see a delay in purchases due to fear of recession and slowdown,” he added. 

Gartner attributes the sharp decline in global shipments to a variety of factors. Mikako Kitagawa, research director at Gartner said that the decline was accelerated by the ongoing geopolitical instability caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, inflation, and an increase in the prices of PCs.

Kitagawa noted that the PC industry has raised average selling prices (ASPs)  to maintain profits to overcome the increase in cost due to inflation.  “The reduction in the mix of PCs from Chromebooks, which tend to have low price points, and shift to premium products also helped increase the average ASP,” he added. 

Jitesh Ubrani, research manager at IDC concurs. “Consumer demand for PCs has weakened in the near term and is at risk of perishing in the long term as consumers become more cautious about their spending,” said Urbani. 

Though Lenovo continues to be the global leader in the June quarter, its shipments fell by 12.5% making it their third consecutive declining quarter, according to Gartner. Apple was the only PC brand in the top six to register growth. Apple’s shipments grew by 9.3%. 

Further, Gartner's results show that PC shipments in China fell by 16% due to the country’s zero Covid-19 policy and the subsequent lockdowns in major business hubs such as Shanghai. 

In the US market, shipment of desktops and laptops (except Chromebooks) grew, however, the overall PC shipments fell by 17.5% during the June quarter. Gartner said that the growth in certain segments was offset by the 50% YoY decline in Chromebook shipments.