Apple sees over 40% drop in Mac shipments, highest year-on-year fall

Global shipments of personal computers have taken a hit, declining by almost a third compared to the previous year, according to a new report by the International Data Corporation (IDC). 

The report found that global shipments of traditional PCs - which excludes tablets - dipped by 29 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter of 2022, coming in at 56.9 million shipments.

Apple was hit particularly hard, experiencing the largest year-over-year drop in shipments of 40.5 per cent, from 6.9 million in the first quarter of 2022 to 4.1 million in the same period of 2023. This cut Apple’s market share in the personal computer market to 7.2 per cent from 8.6 per cent a year ago.

Although every company surveyed by IDC suffered declines in shipments, market share rose slightly for HP to 21.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 from 19.7 per cent in the same period last year. IDC attributed the decline in shipments to weak demand, excess inventory and a worsening macroeconomic environment. The report noted that shipment volume not only declined year-over-year but also came in lower than pre-pandemic levels.

IDC’s research manager for mobility and consumer device trackers, Jitesh Ubrani, said, "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."

The lighter demand and pause in growth are giving the supply chain an opportunity to evaluate the possibility of moving factories outside of China, and PC makers are reassessing their plans for the rest of the year.

IDC predicts that "PC shipments will likely suffer in the near term with a return to growth towards the end of the year with an expected improvement in the global economy and as the installed base begins to think about upgrading to Windows 11".

However, the research vice president for devices and displays, Linn Huang, noted that there could be a "significant market upside" for PCs and similar devices in 2024 if the economy is trending up by then, but warned that "If recession in key markets drags on into next year, recovery could be a slog".