Worldwide PC Market Contracts After Two Years of Significant Growth ⇥ gartner.com
Worldwide PC shipments totaled 65.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2022, a 28.5% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2021, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. This marks the largest quarterly shipment decline since Gartner began tracking the PC market in the mid-1990s. For the year, PC shipments reached 286.2 million units in 2022, a 16.2% decrease from 2021.
This year-over-year decline comes after growing by nearly 5% in 2020 compared to the year before, and then 10% in 2021. While PC sales in 2022 were down compared to the year before, they were still higher than in 2020.
That context is notable in light of a report that Apple paused production of its M2 chips in January and February. Even so, Gartner estimates Apple grew its Mac sales in 2022 compared to the year prior — the only brand to do so.
Update: IDC reports Mac sales declined by 40% in January through March 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. For comparison, IDC said Apple’s sales declined by 2% in the final months of 2022 compared to the year previous; Gartner said they dropped by 10% in the same comparison.