Global PC shipments suffer worst decline in two decades in September quarter: Gartner

The global PC market witnessed its steepest decline in the last two decades during the September quarter after shipment of desktops and laptops fell 19.5% year-on-year (YoY) to reach a total of 68 million units, according to Gartner’s preliminary quarterly results published Tuesday.

It was also the fourth consecutive quarter of decline in PC shipments, according to the Gartner report, which found that with the return to office and reopening of schools, demand for PCs has weakened in both consumer and enterprise segments.

“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,” said Mikako Kitagawa, director analyst at Gartner.

Kitagawa pointed out that back-to-school sales ended with “disappointing results” despite a lot of promotions and price drops offered by vendors. He attributed this to the lack of demand as many consumers had purchased new PCs in the last two years. 

Similarly, on the business side, companies were a lot more selective in their IT spending due to geopolitical and economic uncertainties. “PCs were not at the top of the priority list.”

Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region was the biggest contributor, with a YoY decline of 26.4% in the September quarter, accounting for 17 million units. This is the third negative quarter for the EMEA region, according to Gartner.

Kitagawa attributed the decline in demand to challenging macroeconomic conditions in Europe and the war in Ukraine. 

“Many PC vendors shuttered operations in Russia in the first two quarters of this year, which negatively impacted overall shipments and is particularly visible across YoY comparisons,” he added.

PC shipments in the Asia-Pacific PC market declined by 16.6% YoY, mainly due to lockdowns in China, which has slowed business operations and subsequently the demand for PC in consumer as well as government, and enterprise segments. Meanwhile, the US PC market declined for the fifth straight quarter by 17.3% in September.

In terms of PC market share, Dell with 26.8% of all PC shipments was the leading vendor in the September quarter, followed by HP (23.2%), Apple (16%), Lenovo (15.8%), and Acer (5.8%).

Though Dell’s laptop shipments declined in all regions except Japan, its desktop shipments grew YoY in all regions except Asia-Pacific. HP also suffered a sharp decline in laptop shipments even as desktop shipments grew in select regions. Similarly, Lenovo’s overall PC shipments also declined, but its desktop shipments in EMEA grew after the company started production at its new manufacturing facility in Hungary in June.