The global economic downturn has continued to impact the demand for global computers negatively, the International Data Corporation has disclosed.
This is as the downward spiral for PC shipments continued during the third quarter of 2023. Global volume declined by 7.6 per cent year over year or 68.2 million in the review period.
This is information is contained in the preliminary results from the International Data Corporation Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.
The firm noted that although demand and the global economy remain subdued, PC shipments have increased in each of the last two quarters, slowing the rate of annual decline, and indication that the market has moved past its worst stage.
Commenting on the decline, research manager for IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, Jitesh Ubrani, said, “The PC industry is on a slow path to recovery as a device refresh cycle and end of support for Windows 10 will help drive sales in the second half of 2024 and beyond. In the meantime, the PC industry will unfortunately experience more pain.
“The slowness in the industry is giving the supply chain an opportunity to explore procurement and production options outside China and this will likely remain a key issue going forward, second only to the advancement of AI within PCs.”
The research vice president, Devices and Displays at IDC, Linn Huang, added, “Generative AI could be a watershed moment for the PC industry.
“While use cases have yet to be fully articulated, interest in the category is already strong. AI PCs promise organizations the ability to personalize the user experience at a deeper level all while being able to preserve data privacy and sovereignty. As more of these devices launch next year, we expect a significant boost to overall selling prices.”
The firm further noted that the downward pressure on PC pricing will persist and likely remain an issue within the consumer and business sectors.
