The PC market is finally starting to rise again after going through the slowest period in its history. A trend which is partly explained by the drop in inflation, reports the research firm IDC.
During the pandemic, the demand for electronic devices like computers and smartphones has exploded, with people forced to exploit such gadgets to work and communicate with loved ones. The drop in this demand, coupled with price inflation in an uncertain economic context, has contributed to a drastic fall in PC sales from 2022. This period of scarcity extended over long quarters, reaching its lowest point in the first quarter of 2023, with a 28.7% drop in sales year-on-year. A year later, the sector finally rose from its ashes.
A slight growth
In the first three months of 2024, 59.8 million personal computers were shipped. This represents an admittedly very slight growth of 1.5%, but this increase is still worth noting. As a result, overall sales returned to pre-pandemic levels, with first-quarter volumes rivaling those of the same period in 2019, when 60.5 million units were shipped.
Lenovo comes out on top, with 23% market share. It is followed by HP with 20.1%, then Dell, which has a 15.5% share. Apple occupies fourth position with 8.1%, followed by Asus and its 6.1% market share.
Good prospects for the rest of the year
The only downside is the less stellar performance of PCs in China, the largest market in the world. “ With China being the largest consumer of desktops, weak demand led to another quarter of declines in global desktop shipments, which were already under pressure from laptops », explains IDC.
The firm is nevertheless optimistic for the rest of the year, with these figures expected to continue to climb. It is likely that many will indeed choose to renew equipment purchased during the pandemic. The outlook is also positive for 2025, with the announced end of Windows 10 expected to push users to switch to more recent hardware.
Source : IDC
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