Apple’s personal computer shipments declined by 40.5 per cent in the first quarter, marking a tough start to the year for PC makers still grappling with a glut of unsold inventory.
Shipments by all PC makers combined slumped 29 per cent to 56.9 million units – below the levels of early 2019 – as the demand surge driven by pandemic-era remote work evaporated, according to IDC’s latest report, according to Bloomberg.
Among the market leaders, Lenovo Group and Dell Technologies registered drops of more than 30 per cent, while HP was down 24.2 per cent. No major brand was spared from the slowdown, with Asustek Computer rounding out the top five with a 30.3 per cent fall.
The slowdown in consumer spending over the past year has led to double-digit declines in smartphone shipments and an accumulating glut among the world’s foremost memory chip suppliers. Samsung Electronics, which provides such chips for portable devices as well as desktop and laptop PCs, last week said it is cutting memory production after reporting its slimmest profit since the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
“Though channel inventory has depleted in the last few months, it is still well above the healthy four- to six-week range,” said IDC research manager Jitesh Ubrani. “Even with heavy discounting, channels and PC makers can expect elevated inventory to persist into the middle of the year and potentially into the third quarter.”
A silver lining is that the cooling demand is giving manufacturers the time and room “to make changes as many factories begin to explore production options outside China”, IDC said in the report. Apple is gradually diversifying the geography of its manufacturing base as brewing tensions between Washington and Beijing threaten to disrupt its carefully orchestrated supply chain.
Looking towards 2024, IDC researchers foresee a potential rebound for PC makers, driven by a combination of ageing hardware that will need to be replaced and an improving global economy.
