Sales figures for PCs and notebooks shrink significantly in 2022

The fact that the Corona pandemic is probably far from over is not only evident from the currently rampant summer wave. The economy is also still suffering greatly from the effects of the pandemic. Who is surprised. In addition to broken supply chains, it is above all the long-lasting semiconductor shortage that is causing problems for many sectors. PC manufacturers in particular are now looking at their quarterly figures with horror. They have slumped by 13.5 percent. But is it really only the semiconductors that are behind this?

Great losses for PC manufacturers

It is quite frightening when you take a look at the estimates of the IDC research institute. They found out that in the second quarter of 2022, about 13 million fewer stationary PCs and notebooks were sold than in the same quarter of 2021. HP is said to be one of the biggest losers. According to IDC, this manufacturer alone sold 5 million fewer PCs than in the second quarter of 2021. Things don’t look much better for its counterpart with macOS. Considering that Apple devices have no real competition with the same operating system, the 1.4 million fewer Macs sold are really frightening.

What are the causes?

However, you have to go back a bit further on the timeline to use meaningful sales figures for comparison. After all, the market for notebooks and desktop PCs was booming during the height of the Corona pandemic in 2021. Everyone wanted to set up their own home office and needed the right technology to do so. Thus, it is not surprising that the sales figures in the second quarter of 2022 are still higher than in the same period of 2018 and 2019. Nevertheless, something completely different could also be behind the shrinking sales figures. For example, they could also be fueled by the Ukraine war, which is currently still ongoing.

In view of rising inflation and high energy prices, all consumers currently have to watch their spending. People would rather use their old laptop a bit longer than spend a lot of money on a new device. But perhaps the plight of the PC sector could also be an opportunity for other industries that are suffering from the semiconductor shortage. The automotive industry in particular should be happy about every chip that is not installed in a PC, but in a car. After all, demand here is higher than it has been for a long time. Projects such as the Intel factories in Magdeburg or Ohio should help to alleviate the semiconductor shortage as quickly as possible.