PC Shipments Drop in the First Quarter, With Apple Leading the Decline
April 10 2023 - 9:28AM
Dow Jones News
By Will Feuer
PC shipments continued to sag in the first quarter, with Apple
Inc. leading the decline, as the industry grapples with a glut of
inventory after a pandemic-driven surge in demand, according to
market research firm International Data Corp.
Global PC shipments fell to 56.9 million in the first quarter,
down 29% from the same period a year earlier and below the 59.2
million units shipped in the first quarter of 2019, before the
pandemic drove a surge in demand, IDC said.
Apple, which IDC says commands a 7.2% share of the global PC
market, saw shipments tumble by 40.5%, leading the drop across the
five PC companies analyzed in the IDC report. Lenovo Group Ltd.'s
shipments fell 30.3% while HP Inc.'s shipments dropped by 24.2%,
according to the report, and Dell Technologies Inc. shipped 31%
fewer units than it did a year earlier.
Inventories have come down in the past few months but are still
elevated, according to Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager at
IDC.
"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," he said.
The data weighed on shares of PC makers, sending shares of
Apple, HP and Dell all about 1% lower in premarket trading.
Linn Huang, research vice president at IDC, said the industry
could get relief next year as customers look to upgrade aging
computers. He warned that an economic downturn could weigh on that
recovery.
"If the economy is trending upwards by then, we expect
significant market upside as consumers look to refresh, schools
seek to replace worn down Chromebooks, and businesses move to
Windows 11," Mr. Huang said. "If recession in key markets drags on
into next year, recovery could be a slog."
IDC also noted that the slowdown is giving the industry room to
reconsider its supply chain, with many manufacturers exploring
production options outside of China.
Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 10, 2023 09:13 ET (13:13 GMT)
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