Steep fall in Aussie PC shipments in first quarter

Analyst firm IDC said the Australian PC market declined by 19.1 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, with just 996,000 units shiped.

The consumer segment of the market saw the steepest drop with a 33.3 per cent year-on-year decline as people reined in their spending.

However, the commercial segment saw a moderate decline of 2.1 per cent.

IDC attributed this to businesses reassessing their budgets amidst growing economic uncertainty.

HP shipped 229,900 units in Australia, nudging out Lenovo to gain the top spot in the country with a 23.1 per cent market share, and a moderate 4.1 per cent year-on-year decline.

Compared to the first quarter of 2022, Lenovo experienced a large 30.5 per cent fall in units shipped, and now is number three in the Australian market, behind Dell.

Apple holds the number four spot in Australia but the company saw an 18.7 per cent year-on-year decline in shipments, as its M2 processor based system pricing was less competitive than the earlier, M1 equipped models, IDC said.

For the full 2023 year, IDC expects the Australian PC market to drop by 14.4 per cent year on year.

“The macroeconomic environment is currently experiencing high levels of inflation, and increasing interest rates, which is impacting PC demand from both commercial and consumer segments,” Sharmishtha Bhatt, lead analyst PC Devices Research at IDC Australia said.

Despite this, IDC said there are signs that the market could recover in the second half of the year.