After a spike during the first two years of the pandemic, global PC shipments have dropped for a fourth consecutive quarter, with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) suffering the worst from the waning demand.
According to research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), global shipments for all computers were down 29% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023.
Beneath the headline, Apple's shipments fell 40.5% annually. Moreover, the tech giant's PC market shares dropped from 8.6% to 7.2% over the same period, according to IDC data. Illustrating that weakening demand, Apple shipped 2.8 million fewer devices year-over-year in the first quarter, the IDC reports.
Apple had warned shareholders previously to expect a decline in PC sales, with CFO Luca Maestri forecasting double-digit declines in Mac and iPad sales year-over-year for the first quarter back in February,CNBC reports.
Beyond Apple, all five of the largest computer markers included in the data -- Apple, ASUS (OTC: ASUUY), Dell (NYSE: DELL), HP (NYSE: HP) and Lenovo (OTC: LNVGF) -- saw double-digit declines in shipments last quarter.
"Though channel inventory has depleted in the last few months, it's still well above the healthy four to six week range," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device trackers, in the report. "Even with heavy discounting, channels and PC makers can expect elevated inventory to persist into the middle of the year and potentially into the third quarter."
Some of this waning demand and inventory bloat is to be expected. During the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the start of many employees' work-from-home lifestyle transitions, people were purchasing a lot of new PCs in 2020 and 2021 to adapt to new social quarantine policies worldwide. Laptops and desktop PCs tend to have a lifespan ranging from three to eight years, meaning people are likely to not need a new system for a couple more years.
Still, there is some potential upsides heading into the year's end and early 2024 for PC manufacturers, according to IDC.
"By 2024, an aging installed base will start coming up for refresh," said Linn Huang, research VP of Devices and Displays at IDC, in the report. "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 (NASDAQ: GOOGL), and businesses move to Windows 11 (NASDAQ: MSFT). If recession in key markets drags on into next year, recovery could be a slog."