Apple’s PC shipments slumped by 40.5% in the first quarter of 2023, Bloomberg reported, citing the International Data Corporation (IDC).
The decline in shipments was part of an overall nosedive in the PC market. Total PC shipments fell by 29% to 56.9 million. Lenovo, Asus, and Dell saw their sales drop by about 30%, while sales of HP went down by 24.2%.
Experts believe low demand for personal computers was triggered by a supply glut following the pandemic and a slowdown in consumer spending.
However, the ongoing downturn is far from being catastrophic. “Though channel inventory has depleted in the last few months, it's still well above the healthy four to six week range. 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”, IDC researcher Jitesh Ubrani said.
The IDC’s report noted potential opportunities for PC makers. They could take advantage of lower demand and poor sales to overhaul production lines and move operations out of China. Wary of potential disruptions caused by tensions between the US and China, Apple continues to establish new manufacturing facilities outside China’s borders.
IDC predicts that the PC and electronics market will pick back up in 2024 as the global economy stabilizes and consumers begin to upgrade their devices.
