Chromebook and tablet shipments continued to decline in 2022Q3

Some time ago, IDC’s latest global quarterly personal computing device tracking report showed that PC shipments in the third quarter of 2022 fell by 15% year-on-year to 74.3 million units, and the traditional PC market continued to decline. A weak global economy, inflation, and the surge in purchases over the past two years are the main reasons for the decline in shipments. In addition to traditional PCs, Chromebooks and tablets are also affected.

According to TechPowerup, IDC released the latest tracking report, showing that global tablet shipments in the third quarter of 2022 declined for the fifth consecutive quarter, down 8.8% year-on-year, totaling 38.6 million units. The Chromebook, which was a big seller in the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic, was no exception, and it also struggled in the third quarter of 2022, with shipments falling to 4.3 million units, down 34.4% year-on-year. Both segments have shifted from constrained supply to shrinking demand, with manufacturers taking more hits amid higher economic uncertainty and slowing spending on consumption and education.

Suppliers in China continued to perform well in emerging markets with high low-end demand, and competition in this segment intensified, although this still could not offset the decline in overall tablet shipments. After substantial growth in 2020 and 2021, tablet shipments are expected to decline in 2022. While a fair number of tablets and Chromebooks aren’t expensive, the increasingly tough economy has made consumers more cautious.