Global PC Shipments Plunge, Marking ‘One of the Worst Quarters in Decades’

A sharp plunge in global PC shipments last quarter is adding to the business slowdown channel partners face.

A new Canalys report shows that suppliers shipped only 54 million PCs worldwide during the first quarter of 2023. That is 26 million fewer units than the same period a year ago, amounting to a dramatic 33% decline.

IDC released similarly bleak figures. According to a preliminary release of IDC’s Q123 Worldwide Quarterly PC Device Tracker, suppliers shipped 23.3 million fewer PCs year-over-year. Canalys noted that its latest report marked the fourth consecutive quarterly drop in PC shipments. It was also the sharpest decline.

“It is one of the worst quarters in decades,” Canalys’ chief analyst for channels, partnerships and ecosystems, Jay McBain, noted on LinkedIn. “This has downstream implications for partners — with [fewer] new units coming into managed services contracts and the extension of older units that are tougher to manage, keep repaired and secure against emerging threats.”

See our slideshow above for the impact of plunging global PC shipments on channel partners. We also have some fast facts from the IDC study.

Jeff O’Heir contributed to this report.