Worldwide PC shipments totaled 55.2 million units in the first quarter of 2023, a 30% decrease from the first quarter of 2022, according to preliminary results by management consulting company Gartner. An unfavorable combination of oversupply and continued low PC demand due to economic uncertainties and a lack of purchase motivation led to the second consecutive quarter of historic year-over-year decline.
“PC pricing pressures intensified during the quarter as vendors offered considerable discounts to clear inventory,” said Mikako Kitagawa, Director Analyst at Gartner. “To drive demand, vendors temporarily reduced average selling prices (ASPs) of PCs already in the channels, but ASPs of new PCs shipping into the channels remained elevated due to inflation-driven supply chain cost increases.”
“Essentially, PC vendors pursued a strategy to protect margins rather than to pursue market share by lowering prices,” added Kitagawa. “ASPs will increase moderately in 2023 as vendors pass the cost increases for new PCs entering the channel to end users.”
The top vendors in the worldwide PC market remained unchanged in the first quarter of 2023, with Lenovo maintaining the No. 1 spot in shipments with a 23.3% market share.
Lenovo maintains top spot
Lenovo recorded the steepest annual shipment decline in its corporate history over two quarters. While the U.S. was a particularly challenging market for Lenovo, the company had modest growth in Japan driven by end of fiscal year PC purchases.
This was the seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit shipment decline for HP. HP shipments in EMEA dropped by 37% compared to a year ago but declined less steeply in the U.S. market.
Dell saw its fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline. Asia Pacific was its hardest-hit market, with shipments down by over 40%. Dell’s decline was largely driven by the weak business PC market.
Read more: PC shipments to decline 6.8% in 2023: Report
US market
The U.S. PC market declined 25.8% in the first quarter of 2023. While the US economic outlook in the first quarter of 2023 was better than initially anticipated, particularly for consumer spending, it did not significantly impact PC sales as consumers opted to spend their money elsewhere.
Dell secured the top spot in the U.S. PC market based on shipments with a 26.4% market share, while HP followed with a 25.7% share.
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