The computer market had great growth during the pandemic, but now it must face a period of crisis, since it registered a fall for the fourth consecutive quarter, amid excess inventory and economic uncertainty that is experienced globally .
According to data from the , shipments of computers, both desktop and laptop, fell 19.5% in the third quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2021.
This represents the biggest drop that has been documented in the last two decades and coincides with a turbulent outlook for the technology industry, where the relationship between the governments of the United States and China has become more complex in terms of chip exports.
“While supply chain disruptions have finally subsided, inventory has now become a major issue due to weak demand for PCs in both the consumer and business markets. Back-to-school sales ended disappointingly,” said Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa.
The specialist also detailed that other reasons why this market has had such a poor performance in the last four quarters is that there is no need for PCs by consumers, since they updated their equipment during the pandemic.
Likewise, he explained that the geopolitical and economic tensions that the world is experiencing generated a more measured and selective spending on IT, so spending on PCs was not among the priorities.
Lenovo remains the world’s top PC maker, however its shipments fell just over 15%, while second and third-place HP and Dell saw drops of 28% and 21%, respectively.
Before the presentation of these results, companies like AMD had already warned about a slowdown in the market. The research company, Canalys, also presented data similar to that of Gartner and in that case highlighted the impact it will have on both large and small companies.
“Intel and AMD are facing headwinds from weakness in their PC businesses and smaller component makers, from ICs to memory, are cutting production and lowering earnings forecasts,” said Ishan Dutt, an analyst at Canalys. .
Intel could reduce its workforce
In this context, Intel could be planning cuts in its workforce, according to , which mentions that the layoffs would affect around 20% of the company’s members, especially in the sales and marketing teams.
The company had raised the struggles in the PC market during its second-quarter earnings report, citing that its consumer chip sales were down 25%, while overall revenue was down 22%:
At that same meeting, CEO Pat Gelsinger said the company would be “reducing core spending in 2022 and looking to take additional action in the second half of the year” even as the company is poised to receive billions of dollars in funding. the Chips Act, the United States government package aimed at boosting the manufacture of semiconductors.
