Worldwide PC shipments totaled 68 million units in the third quarter of 2022, a 19.5% decrease from the third quarter of 2021, according to preliminary results by management consulting company Gartner. This is the steepest market decline since Gartner began tracking the PC market in the mid-1990s and the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline.
“This quarter’s results could mark a historic slowdown for the PC market,” said Mikako Kitagawa, Director Analyst at Gartner. “While supply chain disruptions have finally eased, high inventory has now become a major issue given weak PC demand in both the consumer and business markets. Back-to-school sales ended with disappointing results despite massive promotions and price drops, due to a lack of need as many consumers had purchased new PCs in the last two years.”
The top three vendors in the worldwide PC market remained unchanged in the third quarter of 2022, with Lenovo maintaining the number 1 spot in shipments with a 25.2% market share.
“Inflation is the biggest concern in the U.S. market, but smaller businesses are showing relative optimism about macroeconomic conditions,” said Kitagawa. “While laptop demand among large enterprises sharply decreased in the third quarter of 2022, small and midsize businesses did not show as steep of a drop.”
The PC market in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) decreased 26.4% year-over-year in the third quarter, reaching 17 million units – the steepest decline among all regions. This is the third negative quarter for the EMEA PC market following a boom at the start of the pandemic.
“Multiple factors led to significant deterioration in the EMEA PC market, including challenging macroeconomic conditions, declining business and consumer demand, and high levels of inventory,” said Kitagawa. “Additionally, many PC vendors shuttered operations in Russia in the first two quarters of this year, which negatively impacted overall shipments and is particularly visible across year-to-year comparisons.”
