PC sales dropped in the US during the first quarter of 2022, but the news may not be entirely bad news for manufacturers.
The latest figures from Canalys indicate that 19.5 million desktops, notebooks and workstations were shipped in the first quarter of 2022, down 14% from the same period a year ago.
However, revenues increased by 40% as high-end devices increasingly dominated the market, particularly from enterprise and enterprise customers looking to upgrade their technology stack. Sales of premium devices such as Apple’s M1-powered MacBook line have sought to meet the growing movement toward hybrid working as users have turned to devices that offer high-end features such as video conferencing and battery life throughout. the day.
PC sales fall
Canalys found that Dell was once again the most successful manufacturer, seeing sales grow 7% year-on-year to take the top spot for the third straight quarter.
The company sold 5.14 million units in total during the quarter for a 26% market share, ahead of HP in second place (4.29 million units for a 22% share), Lenovo (3.26 million of units for 17%) and Apple (2.67 million units for 14% share).
HP and Lenovo saw significant declines in sales compared to 2021, posting a 40% and 24% decline respectively – however, Apple saw 18% growth as users migrated to their M1 devices.
A collapse in Chromebook sales was a major part of the overall drop, with laptop shipments falling 22% as education spending on new devices fell as students returned to normal school hours after the pandemic eased.
“US PC shipments suffered a third straight quarter of decline as the relative strengths of the end-user segments changed,” said Brian Lynch, research analyst at Canalys.
“The consumer and education segments have seen demand slow further due to market saturation and growing concerns over inflation, which peaked at 8.5% in March, the highest rate of increase in twelve months since 1981.”
“Hybrid working has proven to be a key driver for business shipments as employees rely on their devices more than ever for productivity. Features to support hybrid working styles such as better audio/video capabilities and longer battery life, have become increasingly important, giving workers more reason to request device upgrades. Commercial demand is expected to remain strong this year despite the macroeconomic pressure facing the PC industry and will help limit expected overall declines in shipments.”
