In the last quarter of 2023, 0.3 percent more PCs were sold worldwide, showing some recovery after two years of contraction.
This is according to figures from Gartner. In the fourth quarter, 63.37 million PCs were shipped. “The PC market has hit the bottom of its decline after significant adjustment,” responded Mikako Kitagawa of the analyst firm. “Inventory was normalized in the fourth quarter of 2023, which had been an issue plaguing the industry for two years.”
According to Gartner, the growth shows that demand and inventory are back in balance. However, the analyst firm is holding back; the recovery may be short-lived. PC components will likely become more expensive this year, affecting desktop and laptop prices.
Growth in the last quarter could not prevent all of 2023 from being a challenging year compared to 2022. PC makers shipped 241.8 million units, down 14.8 per cent from 2022. A particular negative milestone: less than 250 million PCs were shipped for the first time since 2006.
Lenovo most popular
Looking at which brands were most popular in the fourth quarter, the top six remain unchanged. The most popular PCs came from Lenovo, followed by HP, Dell, Apple, ASUS and Acer. Lenovo even managed to gain some market share; its market share increased from 24.9 per cent in Q4 2022 to 25.6 per cent market share in Q4 2023. HP, Apple and Acer also saw market share growth, while Dell and Asus sold fewer PCs.