PC Market Rebounds: First Quarter Shows Growth

The market research firm IDC recently released its Quarterly Global PC Shipment Tracker for the first quarter of 2024. The report indicates that, after a two-year decline, the global PC market rebounded in the first quarter of 2024, with shipments reaching 59.8 million units, a 1.5% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023.

IDC attributes one reason for this resurgence to the exceptionally low global PC shipment volume in the first quarter of 2023, which had fallen by 28.7% year-over-year to a historical low. Moreover, IDC notes that global PC shipments have returned to pre-pandemic levels, with the first quarter of 2024’s shipments equalling the 60.5 million units shipped in the first quarter of 2019. The recovery in shipments across most regions also contributed to growth in the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. However, the demand in the Chinese PC market remains subdued. As the largest consumer of desktop computers, the sluggishness in China’s market led to a decline in global desktop shipments for the quarter, amidst challenges posed by laptops.

“Despite China’s struggles, the recovery is expected to continue in 2024 as newer AI PCs hit shelves later this year and as commercial buyers begin refreshing the PCs that were purchased during the pandemic,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. “Along with growth in shipments, AI PCs are also expected to carry higher price tags, providing further opportunity for PC and component makers.”

IDC also disclosed the top five companies in terms of shipment volume, namely Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple, Acer, and Asus, which tied for fifth place due to a small difference in shipment volumes and market share. Lenovo led with a shipment of 13.7 million units, a 7.8% year-over-year increase, securing a 23.0% market share, up 1.4 percentage points from the same period last year. HP followed with 12 million units shipped, a 0.2% year-over-year increase, and a market share of 20.1%, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from the previous year. The details for the remaining companies are provided in the table below.