Global PC Shipments Drop Again in Q1, With Apple Taking Biggest Hit

We knew it was coming, but “the era of COVID-driven demand” for PCs is over, according to IDC, with PC shipments once again taking a big dive, most notably for Apple Macs.

Global PC shipments hit 56.9 million in Q1, down 29% from the same quarter in 2022, thanks to “weak demand, excess inventory, and a worsening macroeconomic climate,” IDC says(Opens in a new window). The previous quarter, the dip was 28.1%.

Of the top five biggest traditional PC makers, Apple took the biggest hit this quarter, with its PC shipments falling 40.5% compared to the first three months of 2022. Shipments hit 6.9 million in Q122, but dropped to 4.1 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Lenovo and Asus both saw a 30.3% drop in shipments quarter over quarter, while Dell’s shipments declined 31%. HP fared the best, though it still shipped 24.2% fewer PCs in the first quarter of 2023 than in the first three months of last year.

Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager at IDC, says excess inventory is “well above the healthy four- to six-week range,” and high levels will “persist” even with heavy discounting “into the middle of the year and potentially into the third quarter.”

Still, it's not all doom and gloom. IDC expects “a return to growth towards the end of the year” as the global economy improves and people start thinking about upgrading to Windows 11 PCs.

“By 2024, an aging installed base will start coming up for refresh,” says Linn Huang, research VP for Devices and Displays at IDC. “If the economy is trending upwards by then, we expect significant market upside as consumers look to refresh, schools seek to replace worn down Chromebooks, and businesses move to Windows 11.”

But “if recession in key markets drags on into next year, recovery could be a slog,” Huang says.