Computers: The worst sales in two decades

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In the 3rd quarter of 2022, the market closed a full year with negative signs – only 68 million computers were released to the global market

The worst performance since the mid-1990s is recorded by the global computer market, which is posting continuous negative records, according to SEPE.

In the 3rd quarter of 2022, the market ended a full year with negative signs, with sales – at the volume level – falling by 19.5% compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary results from Gartner Inc.

In Q3 2022, sales fell 19.5%, with the sign remaining negative for the fourth consecutive quarter

Practically, as the relevant results show in the considered period of 2022, only 68 million computers were available on the global market. This is the sharpest market decline since Gartner began tracking the PC market in the mid-1990s and the fourth straight quarter of decline.

The reasons

This quarter’s results could signal a historic slowdown for the PC market. While the disruptions in the supply chain have finally been largely resolved, high inventories are becoming a major issue for the PC market, given the low PC demand in both the consumer and business markets.

The “back to school” ended with disappointing results, despite huge offers and price cuts, due to a lack of demand, as many consumers had bought new computers in the last two years.

On the business side, geopolitical and economic uncertainty has led to more selective IT spending, with PCs not at the top of companies’ priority lists.

The market in Europe is suffocating

The computer market in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region was also in trouble in the 3rd quarter of 2022. Sales decreased in volume by 26.4% year-on-year during the period under review and were only at the levels of 17 million .units. This is the largest percentage decline suffered by the PC market worldwide, while for EMEA the period under review was the third consecutive negative quarter.

Multiple factors led to a significant deterioration in the PC market in EMEA, including difficult macroeconomic conditions, declining business and consumer demand, and high inventory levels. In addition, many PC manufacturers ended their operations in Russia in the first two quarters of this year, which negatively affected overall sales,” Gartner analysts explain.

The US PC market also fell 17.3% in Q3 2022, the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year shipment declines. “Inflation is the biggest concern in the US market, but smaller businesses are showing relative optimism about macroeconomic conditions. While laptop demand among large enterprises fell sharply in Q3 2022, small and medium-sized enterprises did not experience as much of a decline,” the firm’s analysts comment.

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