PC Shipments Decline After 2 Years of Pandemic-Fueled Growth

After two years of significant growth, the PC market saw a decline in shipments during the first quarter amid sagging demand from consumers and education buyers. 

Research firm IDC reports that PC shipments declined 5.1% between January and March 2022, following two years of pandemic-fueled double-digit growth.

The decline doesn’t necessarily mean the market is headed toward a “downward spiral,” IDC says. In fact, during Q1, PC vendors shipped 80.5 million units across the globe. That’s notable, especially when you consider the market shipped a mere 58.5 million units three years ago. 

“The 1Q22 volume marks the seventh consecutive quarter where global shipments surpassed 80 million, a feat not seen since 2012,” IDC adds. 

Those 80 million units also shipped amid the ongoing chip shortage and global supply chain problems. IDC attributes this to high PC demand coming from the commercial sector when many offices are updating their hardware for hybrid work environments.  

Rival firm Canalys is also upbeat on the PC market, despite the Q1 shipment decline. “The last two years have greatly expanded the installed base, with over 150 million notebooks and desktops added between 2019 and 2021,” said Canalys analyst ​​Rushabh Doshi. “Even if customers are forced to delay purchases due to rising prices in the short term, a large wave of device refresh is inevitable, especially given that more than 50% of active devices are more than four years old.”

But Canalys also says it’s possible world events interfere with the PC market, citing the war in Ukraine driving up oil prices and COVID-19 lockdowns disrupting China’s manufacturing sector. 

“With no clear timeline on when these issues will be resolved, and the possibility of other black swan events, the industry must be prepared to tackle a new set of challenges and respond with the same resilience it has showed over the last two years,” says Canalys analyst Ishan Dutt.