Decline in PC shipments suggests consumers are tightening their belts
Worldwide shipments of PCs in the second quarter of this year declined more than 15% compared to the year prior, according to early data from IDC. The demand for consumer PCs is stagnating and buyers' appetite for education PCs is waning as well, the research firm reports.
The data suggests people are tightening their belts amid concerns of a worsening economy.
"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 and once again grow accustomed to computing across device types such as phones and tablets," Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC's Mobile Device trackers, said in a statement.
Hardware
"Meanwhile, commercial demand has been more robust although it has also declined as businesses delay purchases."
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Q2 was the second consecutive quarter of lower PC shipments following two years of growth. In fact, IDC said the decline was worse than expected, as supply and logistics problems persisted due to the lockdowns in China and continued macroeconomic headwinds.
All told, worldwide shipments totaled 71.3 million units in the second quarter, according to preliminary results from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.
By comparison, in Q2 2020, worldwide shipments reached 74.3 million. In the second quarter of 2018 and 2019, shipments were 62.1 million and 65.1 million units, respectively.
Ranking among the top three vendors hasn't changed since last year: Lenovo claimed the top spot with 24.6% of the market. HP had nearly 19% market share, with Dell closely following. Acer came in fourth in Q2 of this year, with Apple and ASUS right behind it.