Personal Computers Face Biggest Dip in Demand in Almost a Decade

Demand for personal computers fell 12.6% in the second quarter of 2022 from the same time in 2021, the biggest year-over-year dip in almost a decade, with consumers facing the ever-more-real prospect of a looming economic recession, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday (July 11).

The drop in demand for PCs was the largest in nine years, according to research firm Gartner. Computer makers shipped 72 million PCs from April to June of this year, compared to about 82.4 million during the same three-month period the previous year, per the report.

In part, the dip is being blamed on a slowdown of buying new tech gadgets that marked the two-plus years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The decline we saw in the first quarter of 2022 has accelerated in the second quarter, driven by the ongoing geopolitical instability caused by the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, inflationary pressure on spending and a steep downturn in demand for Chromebooks,” said Mikako Kitagawa, a research director at Gartner.

Research firm International Data Corp. said there was a dip of about 15.3% year over year in global device shipments in the second quarter of the year.

“Fears over a recession continue to mount and weaken demand across segments,” said Jitesh Ubrani, an IDC research manager. However, pandemic demand for computers was so strong that even with recent declines, overall shipment levels remain above pre-pandemic levels, according to IDC.

The U.S. market for PCs decreased by 17.5%, in large part because of a 50% decline in Chromebook shipments after millions of students used those devices for home schooling during pandemic-related lockdowns, according to Gartner.

Related: Paycheck-to-Paycheck Consumers Turn to Loans as Savings Safety Nets Fray

Meanwhile, runaway inflation has started to eat away at consumers’ cash reserves, which spiked with government stimulus offerings — and are now getting more and more difficult to replenish.

According to “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-To-Paycheck Report — Financial Distress Factors Edition,” a PYMNTS and LendingClub collaboration surveying of more than 2,300 consumers, “19% of consumers living paycheck to paycheck have spent more than what they have made in the last six months, compared to 2.2% among consumers not living paycheck to paycheck.”

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