Global PC shipments drop 16.2% in 2022, as recession fears, high interest rates bite

(Representative Image)

Global personal computer (PC) shipments dropped to 286.2 million units in the calendar year 2022, down 16.2 percent from 2021.

The shipments fell to 65.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2022, a 28.5 percent decline from the year-ago period, the steepest drop since it started tracking the PC market in the mid-1990s, research firm Gartner said.

“The anticipation of a global recession, increased inflation and higher interest rates have had a major impact on PC demand,” said Mikako Kitagawa, Director Analyst at Gartner in the report.

“Since many consumers already have relatively new PCs that were purchased during the pandemic, a lack of affordability is superseding any motivation to buy, causing consumer PC demand to drop to its lowest level in years.”

Kitagawa added that enterprise PC shipments were also impacted by a slowing economy. Enterprise shipments started slowing down in the third quarter of 2022 and "enterprise buyers are extending PC lifecycles and delaying purchases, meaning the business market will likely not return to growth until 2024”, he said.

Amidst the gloom, Lenovo finished at the top of Gartner's PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates, with a market share of 24 percent in Q4 2022.

HP Inc was second with a 20.2 percent market share, and Dell held 16.7 percent of the market. Apple accounted for 10.7 percent, Asus 7.5 percent and Acer managed a market share of 5.5 percent.

Other PC vendors cumulatively accounted for 15.4 percent market share in Q4 2022.

“The PC industry experienced very unusual ups and downs over the past 11 years," said Kitagawa. "After the extraordinary growth period between 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, the market has clearly begun a downward trend which will continue until the beginning of 2024.”