Global PC market registers 3% YoY decline in Q1 2022, market study shows

Ending the seventh consecutive quarter of growth, the global PC market has registered a year-on-year (YoY) shipment decline for Q1 2022. The major geopolitical turmoil and softening consumer demand let to a 3 per cent decline in the shipments of desktop and notebooks to 80.1 million units in the said quarter. However, there was a revenue hit of $70 billion as prices continued to rise in a supply-starved market, with consumers' appetite for costlier PCs increasing.

According to research firm Canalys, notebook shipments shrank 6 per cent YoY to reach 63.2 million units, while desktop numbers grew 13 per cent to reach 16.8 million units. While shipments have been hindered by external shocks, the revenue outlook and confidence in the long-term opportunity for the segment remained high due to the presence of strong fundamentals around PC ownership and use.

Canalys Principal Analyst Rushabh Doshi argued that people are increasingly using PCs more often. Moreover, the last two years have greatly expanded the installed base, with over 150 million notebooks and desktops added between the years 2019 and 2021.

“Even if customers are forced to delay purchases due to rising prices in the short term, a large wave of device refresh is inevitable, especially given that more than 50 per cent of active devices are more than four-years-old. Meanwhile, commercial demand will remain strong this year even as consumer and education purchasing falters. The resumption of workplace activity at close to pre-pandemic levels, coupled with hybrid and remote workers needing higher-specified PCs to maximise productivity, means business IT expenditure will remain elevated in 2022,” he said.

In the Q1 of 2022, tech giant Lenovo continued to be the top vendor in the PC market with shipments of 18.2 million units, for an annual decline of 10 per cent. HP continued on be on the second place but suffered the largest decline amongst the top five vendors as its shipments were down 18 per cent YoY to 15.8 million units. On the third spot, Dell registered a healthy growth of 6 per cent with its shipments reaching 13.7 million units on the back of its strong commercial focus. Apple and Asus also enjoyed growth, increasing shipments by 8 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, and taking the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

Ishan Dutt, Senior Analyst at Canalys, said, “Seismic global events have had a negative impact on both the demand and supply side, hitting the industry at a time when consumer and education purchases have both naturally slowed after the highs of last year. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the inflationary environment in major markets by driving up the price of commodities, ranging from oil and gas to metals and foodstuffs.

In parallel, COVID-related lockdowns in key Chinese cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai have created new bottlenecks in manufacturing and distribution, just as vendors and the channel were beginning to find their feet. With no clear timeline on when these issues will be resolved, and the possibility of other black swan events, the industry must be prepared to tackle a new set of challenges and respond with the same resilience it has showed over the last two years.”

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