The minus is 29 percent. Most of the top 5 providers post even bigger losses. Apple is particularly affected, with sales falling by 40.5 percent.
IDC has preliminary figures for the global PC market in the first quarter of 2023 submitted. Accordingly, the manufacturers delivered 56.9 million units in the first three months of the year. Compared to the same period of the previous year, the market shrank by 29 percent.
The market researchers blamed the renewed declines on weak demand due to the persistently poor economic climate and overstocking in the sales channels. At least temporarily, the market has slipped to pre-Covid levels. 59.2 million units were sold in the first quarter of 2019, compared to 60.6 million units in the first quarter of 2018.
U-turn probably not until the fourth quarter
“Although channel inventory levels have reduced in recent months, they are still well above the healthy four to six week range,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “Even with deep discounts, distribution channels and PC makers can expect high inventory levels to persist through mid-year and potentially into the third quarter.”
IDC expects sales figures to increase toward the end of the year at the earliest. There should then be positive impulses from an improvement in the global economic situation and an increase in upgrades to Windows 11. The update supply for Windows 10 Home and Pro will Microsoft set in October 2025.
Lenovo remains the market leader HP
“By 2024, an obsolete device base will be up for renewal,” said Linn Huang, research vice president at IDC. “If the economy shows an upward trend by then, we expect significant market growth as consumers look to refresh their devices, schools replace worn-out Chromebooks, and businesses look to move to Windows 11.” If the recession in key markets stretches into next year, the recovery could be hard work.”
As the market leader, Lenovo held its ground with 12.7 million units shipped, just ahead of HP with 12 million units. While Lenovo’s sales plummeted 30.3 percent, HP suffered a 24.2 percent drop — the lowest among the top five vendors.
As in the same period of the previous year, Dell ended up in third place Apple. The iPhone manufacturer sold a slim 4.1 million Macs and posted the biggest drop in the top 5 at 40.5 percent. Asus also reduced the gap to Apple from 1.7 to 0.4 points in fifth place.