Apple Takes Major Hit as Global PC Shipments Massively Decline in the First Quarter

Tech giant company Apple has been majorly impacted among other tech companies as global PC shipments massively declined by 29% in the first quarter of 2023.

Amid the weak demand, excess inventory, and deteriorating macroeconomic climate, Apple PC shipments declined by 40.5 percent in the first quarter. Other leading tech companies such as Lenovo Group and Dell Technologies recorded drops of more than 30 percent, while HP was down 24.2 percent as no major brand was spared from the decline.

A report published by the International Data Corporation (IDC), disclosed that global PC shipments numbered 56.9 million in the first quarter of this year, declined from 80.2 million in the same period last year.

Speaking on the decline of global PC shipments, the IDC disclosed that the results represented a post-Covid-driven era demand, and at least a temporary return to pre-Covid patterns. It, however, disclosed that the pause in growth and demand would give the supply chain some room to make changes as many factories begin to explore production options outside China.

Looking towards year 2024, researchers at IDC predict a potential rebound for PC makers, driven by a combination of aging hardware that will need to be replaced and an improving global economy. While 2023 volumes will be below 2019 levels, IDC expects 2024 to be a year of recovery with PC and tablet shipments growing 3.6% compared to 2023 and surpassing pre-pandemic levels as total volume reaches 417.7 million units.

Market research analyst and research vice president of IDC, Linn Huang disclosed that the year 2023 will be about resiliency for personal computing device vendors, while noting that surplus inventory, declining demand, and receding macros will continue applying negative pressure on both volumes and ASPs, before returning to growth mode in both departments in the subsequent two years.

The unit shipments for the global PC market are expected to decrease from 258.8 million in 2017 to 215.8 million in 2023, at a negative compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.0 percent over the forecast period. On the positive side, there are indications that technology innovations such as touch-enabled PCs, 2-in-1s, ultra-slim and convertible laptops, hybrids, better battery life, and the Surface product line from Microsoft, combined with demand from the enterprise segment, can offset the declines to an extent.

It is also interesting to note that the slowdown in consumer spending over the last year has led to double-digit declines in smartphone shipments and an accumulating surplus among the world’s foremost memory chip suppliers.

Investors King on April 8, 2023, reported that giant electronics company Samsung revealed plans to cut back memory chip production following the decline in the company’s key metrics in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023.

The company’s quarterly operating profit decreased by 96 percent compared to the same period last year, worse than the two-thirds decline it suffered three months prior, which is the lowest profit ever recorded by Samsung since the first quarter (Q1) in 2009.