Posted on 01/15/2023 6:01:18 AM PST by fluorescence
It's no secret that the conditions were ripe for a steep drop in PC demand this holiday, but now it's clear just how bad that plunge really was. Gartner and IDC estimate PC shipments fell by more than 28 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2022. That's the steepest quarterly decline Gartner has ever recorded — no mean feat when it began tracking the computer market in the 1990s. Both analyst groups also saw yearly shipments fall by more than 16 percent in 2022 compared to the year earlier.
Some manufacturers suffered more of a blow than others. The top three brands, Lenovo, HP and Dell, saw their shipments tumble between 29 percent and 37 percent in late 2022 compared to a year earlier. Acer took a staggering 41 percent hit, according to Gartner. Fourth-place Apple took a relatively light blow, although that still meant its shipments dropped by as much as 10 percent.
Gartner and IDC share the same explanation. PC sales soared in 2021 as people continued to work from home during the pandemic, but that interest tanked as people gradually returned to the office. Moreover, a worsening global economy left people with less money to spend on upgrades. Would-be customers either had a recent PC or had trouble affording a new one, to put it simply.
IDC is quick to put the seeming freefall into context. While the quarterly and yearly drops were sharp, shipments in 2022 were still "well above" pre-pandemic figures, according to researchers. While demand still looks grim, the market was still stronger than before.
Just don't expect the PC's heyday to return for a while. Neither analyst group expects the market to recover in earnest until 2024, and IDC only sees "pockets of opportunity" in 2023. Whether they like it or not, PC makers may have to brace themselves and hope that a combination of new designs and price cuts will sustain interest for the next year.
PC sales drop. How about laptops and tablets?
PCs last a long time now , meaning running newer software
Why buy new phone or pc when the current ones work? I believe people has finally tired of the upgrade yearly cycle.
I would buy a new one if
1) I can get my cars fixed and get back to work
2) Still get one with Windows 7. May have to go refurbished.
So it wouldn’t be new lol
Government upgrades will probably provide a floor for the big 3 who also derive income from support.
What about that market segment?
At some point the market gets saturated. I personally have four laptops in my home all with different purposes. Since they are working fine and I don’t change anything they seem to last for a long time. When one does give up the ghost I will buy a replacement but as long as they do what I want done I don’t see any reason to buy a computer.
I agree. For most of us doing basic browsing and office programs, there’s little need of more performance. Hard drives were always a reliability issue but with SSDs that’s fixed too.
What percent of people do you think that is?
My old rule was three years and then upgrade. However, now I am changing that rule to FOUR years (and possibly 5 for the cell phone if the batteries hold up.) Why upgrade if the computer (and phone) are still doing the jobs you need them to do?
Also for some absurd reason, T-Mobile lowered the trade-in values of their cell phones. I got $300 trade-in value for each of the two Samsung Galaxy S7 phones we traded in back in 2020. Now our Samsung Galaxy 2020 Cell phones will only get $190 each on the trade-in.
Yet the PC manufacturers pushed for communism. They must not like making money. I hope that when this is all over investors retail control and purge most of the C-suite for the grifting, venal leftists that they are.
As pre-built computer sales continue to plummet, prices have to drop. That's also true for components though I suspect the price cuts for components will be smaller since the highest profits are in pre-built PCs. I build my own and have for more than 30 years now. You're exactly correct that with a little research and basic assembly knowledge, it's actually quite easy to build a better computer yourself, cheaper than purchasing a mass-produced pre-built one. They last longer too.
Why spend $1,000's for no real improvement unless you are running heavy duty programs. Day to day programs run just fine on old Laptops.
I can buy very nice Lenovo X1's and Mac Books for a few hundred dollars which are perfect for my personal and business usage.
Maybe they could lower prices... have a sale or two.
My HP laptop has been running without a hitch since 2014-15, can’t recall exactly ... its memory is better than mine.
Nary a Mac I’ve had lasted that near that long and they cost 2-3x as much.
No Mac no more.
My 2012 Mac run just fine. 10 years and use it 1 to 6 hours a day. Never shut it down.
“My old rule was three years and then upgrade.”
I built my PC in 2014. Tried to load TurboTax but not compatible with Win 8.1. Fortunately MS has free upgrade so I am all set.
Wow, that’s really good to hear. I used to be a Mac guy, the newest I ever had was a G5, I think, from 2003. I’m long retired now so don’t really need the horsepower anymore.
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