No one wants to buy a PC right now – and prices are falling

Global PC shipments took a plunge in the fourth quarter of 2022, falling to their lowest levels in years, according to research firms IDC and Gartner. 

There are plenty of reasons why no one wants to buy a PC right now — inflation and climbing interest rates have put a damper on the market, as well as the anticipation of a global recession. Plus, huge numbers of people made their last big PC purchases just a couple of years ago, at the start of the pandemic. The good news is, if you are in the market for a new computer, you may be able to find one at a relatively good price. 

In Q4 2022, “average selling prices (ASPs) across many channels also fell as excess channel inventory over the course of the past few months triggered discounting in an effort to spur demand,” IDC research manager Jitesh Ubrani said in a statement. 

According to Gartner, worldwide PC shipments totaled 65.3 million units in Q4. That's a 28.5% decrease from Q4 2021 — the largest quarterly shipment decline since Gartner began tracking the PC market in the mid-1990s. For all of 2022, PC shipments reached 286.2 million units, a 16.2% decrease from 2021.

IDC similarly said Q4 2022 global shipments were down 28.1% from a year prior, reaching 67.2 million. IDC tallied 292.3 million units for the full year. 

“It is clear the pandemic boom is over for the PC market,” IDC said in its release. “Demand remains a concern as most users have relatively new PCs and the global economy worsens.” 

Both IDC and Gartner expect low demand to continue at least through 2023. 

“The commercial segment has several drivers towards growth, including the approaching end of support for Windows 10 and a building refresh cycle, while the consumer market remains a wildcard for 2023 and beyond,” IDC said.