Beancounters at IDC said COVID-19 lockdowns in China, the war in Ukraine and global inflation are slowing demand for personal computers and tablets.
The firm expects global shipments to decline 8.2 percent year over year in 2022 to 321.2 million units shipped. Tablets are expected to fall 6.2 percent in 2022.
IDC thinks that PC shipments are expected to remain well above pre-pandemic levels with strong commercial demand for device refreshes and emerging markets driving continued demand. It added that shipments to return to positive annual growth in 2023 and beyond. Tablets, though, are expected to show an annual growth rate decline of two percent over the 2021-2026 period.
IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers research manager Jitesh Ubrani, said in a statement: “Supply shortages have plagued the industry for a while and the recent lockdowns in parts of China continue to exacerbate the issue as factories struggle to receive new components from upstream suppliers while also facing issues downstream when it comes to shipping finished goods. While the restrictions are expected to ease soon, worker sentiment within the supply chain remains muted and backlogs of deliveries will persist for the remainder of the year.”
Major PC suppliers have been posting better-than-expected earnings reports, mostly due to continued strong business demand from a hybrid/remote workforce. But Apple and HP Inc. have both warned that future earnings would be impacted by ongoing supply chain issues. Apple said it expected to take an $8 billion future loss due to supply chain woes, and HP noted that its notebook revenue dipped 23 percent in its latest quarterly earnings report.
