The Pandemic Boom Is Over: IDC Sees Weak PC Demand During Holiday Season

The holiday shopping season wasn’t enough to lift the PC market out of its current slump. Instead, global product shipments fell 28.1% year over year during the fourth quarter, according to research firm IDC.

That marks four consecutive quarters of falling shipments for the sector. “It is clear the pandemic boom is over for the PC market,” IDC says(Opens in a new window).

However, the decline in Q4 was even worse than the research firm projected with shipments reaching only 67.2 million, down from 92.7 million a year ago. IDC attributes the weak demand to many consumers having already upgraded to new PCs during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the ongoing economic downturn. 

Q4 PC shipment numbers
(Credit: IDC)

For Q4, all vendors, including Apple, experienced year-over-year declines in shipments numbers, with Dell experiencing the steepest drop at 37.2%. 

The good news is that annual shipments remained above pre-pandemic levels at 292.3 million for the full year. But only Apple experienced positive year-over-year growth for the full period of 2022, at a mere 2.5%. In total, annual PC shipments were down in 2022 by 16.5%.  

PC shipment numbers for 2022
(Credit: IDC)

IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani also notes: “Average selling prices (ASPs) across many channels also fell as excess channel inventory over the course of the past few months triggered discounting in an effort to spur demand.” So people in the market for a PC should be able to score a deal.

In addition, supply vendors tell IDC that it’s possible portions of the PC market could return to growth late this year or in 2024. Windows 10 is approaching end of support in 2025, which could push many commercial businesses to kick off a PC refresh cycle in the coming quarters. However, IDC says the consumer market “remains a wildcard.”

Another research firm, Canalys, also reported(Opens in a new window) PC shipments falling 29% during Q4. “With rising costs for energy and basic goods in key markets like the US and Europe, expenditure on big-ticket items like PCs has taken a back seat as consumers are prepared to delay refreshes,” says Canalys analyst Ishan Dutt.