IDC: 2022Q4 Global PC Shipment Falls Precipitously

Statistics agency IDC has just released its latest quarterly PC tracking data, showing that PC shipments in the final quarter of 2022 continued to decline, reaching 67.2 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 28.1%. With the exception of Apple, all manufacturers saw double-digit percentage declines.

Lenovo’s shipments in the fourth quarter of 2022 fell by 28.5% year-on-year to 15.5 million units, but it still maintained the number one market share position; HP’s shipments fell 29% year-over-year to 13.2 million units; Dell’s shipments fell 37.2% year-on-year to 10.8 million units, the largest decline; Apple was the least affected, with shipments down only 2.1% to 7.5 million units; ASUS’ shipments fell 20.9% year-on-year to 4.8 million units.

If you compare horizontally with previous years, PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2022 are comparable to the same period in 2018, when Intel was affected by supply shortages, dragging down PC shipments. From the full-year data, PC shipments in 2022 declined by 16.5% to 292.3 million units, which is still higher than the level before the epidemic. Among the top five manufacturers, only Apple maintained growth, while HP was the manufacturer with the largest decline, down 25.3%.

Shipment is only one aspect. Another problem facing manufacturers is that the average selling price (ASP) is also decreasing. Excessive inventory levels have caused manufacturers to reduce selling prices, but even so, the excess inventory of PC machines and components is still serious. Manufacturers will still face challenges in the next few quarters, and the average selling price may be further reduced.

IDC said that the entire PC market may see some opportunities by the end of 2023 and will gradually return to the growth cycle, but it is more likely to recover in 2024.