Computer shipments experience sharp decline in Q1 2023

That's according to a new IDC report...

Image by Martine Auvray from Pixabay (with added black and white filter and cat head from Canva)

According to preliminary data from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, global sales of traditional PCs fell sharply in the first quarter of 2023 owing to sluggish demand, excess inventory, and a worsening macroeconomic situation.

Here are a few key points:

• Shipments amounted to 56.9 million, a 29% decrease over the same period in 2022. Apple experienced the sharpest decline among major manufacturers with -40.5%.

• The inventory level remains high, and PC makers may anticipate it to remain so through the middle of the year and maybe into the third quarter.

• Shipments are predicted to fall in the short term, before rebounding towards the end of the year as the global economy improves and the installed base begins to upgrade to Windows 11 (Canalys offers similar predictions in that regard).

• All in all, the data point to pre-COVID sales patterns; 1Q23 being lower than the 59.2 million units shipped in 1Q19 and 60.6 million in 1Q18.