Analysts are calling 2023's decline in PC shipments 'unparalleled in the industry's recorded history' but suggest the only way now is up

There's nothing like a bit of heart-warming, cheery news to start a new year but the PC shipment estimates for 2023, from market analysts IDC and Gartner, are anything but cheery. The total number of units shipped varies between the two groups, with IDC estimating just under 260 million, whereas Gartner puts it at around 242 million. That's 14% down from last year and, while the market is settling down from the Covid era of tech sales, the figures pale in comparison to those seen ten years ago.

As reported by Sweclockers, IDC and Gartner have released their 2023 reports on traditional PC shipments (i.e. desktops, workstations, and laptops; but not tablets or servers). Both are preliminary estimates and as such the numbers can, and often do, change as more information is obtained.

But even taking all that into account, it's not exactly pleasant reading for the PC industry. Gartner estimates that a total of 241.9 million units were shipped in 2023, whereas IDC is less conservative in its estimates, with its total being 259.5 million. That's quite a big difference in terms of raw figures (just how does one miscount 17.6 million PCs?) but compared to the total, IDC's estimate is only 7% larger than Gartner's.

Overall, that's a 14% decline in PC shipments compared to 2022 and for some vendors, it's been an even rougher year.

The market is dominated by the so-called 'Big Six': Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple, Asus, and Acer.  Both analysts say that HP had the least worst year of them all, only dropping around 4.5% year-on-year, whereas IDC has Apple suffering the most (a 23% decrease in 2023 compared to 2022), whereas it was Dell for Gartner at 19.5%.

PC sales overall have been declining since 2021 but the industry was flush with