Recently, IDC, an international data company, said that global personal computer (PC) shipments fell 29% in the first quarter of 2023 due to weak demand, overstocking and a deteriorating macroeconomic environment, with Apple taking the biggest hit.。

In a report released Sunday, the international data company IDC said global PC shipments were 56.9 million units in the first quarter of this year, down from 80.2 million units in the same period last year.。Compared with the last quarter of last year, shipments fell 28.1%。

Among the top five PC companies analyzed in the report, Apple's first-quarter shipments fell 40 percent compared to the same period in 2022..5%, the biggest drop, with Dell in second place with a 31% drop。In addition, Lenovo, Asus and HP's shipments without exception, have faced decline。

In February, Apple reported that sales of its Mac computers were booming due to demand for home office during the epidemic, but now that the epidemic is over, demand is starting to slow, with sales in the most recent quarter at just $7.7 billion, down 29% year-over-year。

IDC said: "Preliminary results show that the era of epidemic-driven demand may be over, at least for now it has temporarily returned to pre-epidemic levels.。Shipments in the first quarter of 2023 were significantly lower than those of 59.2 million units in the first quarter of 2019 and 60.6 million units in the first quarter of 2018.。"。

"As many factories begin to explore production options outside of China, the pause in growth and demand has also given the supply chain some room for change."。"

Fears of a slowdown in major economies persist, with recent turmoil in the banking sector fuelling fears that runaway inflation and tight monetary policy will hamper growth and financial investment.。

Looking ahead to 2024, IDC researchers expect a possible rebound in PC makers due to aging hardware that needs to be replaced and an improving global economy.。

Linn Huang, vice president of device and display research at IDC, said that if the economy is on an upward trend by 2024, "we expect the market to rise sharply as consumers look for updates, schools look to replace older Chromebooks, and businesses turn to Windows 11."。"。

"But if the recession in major markets continues into next year, the recovery could be tough," added Linn Huang.。

Company Limited (Apple Inc..) PC shipments fell 40 in the first quarter..5%, marking a rocky start to the year, with PC makers still grappling with a glut of unsold inventory。

The slowdown in consumer spending over the past year has led to a double-digit decline in smartphone shipments and an oversupply of the world's most important supplier of memory chips.。Samsung Electronics Co., which supplies memory for portable devices as well as desktops and laptops, said last week that it would cut memory production after posting its weakest profit since the 2009 financial crisis.。

Jitesh Ubrani, research manager at IDC, said: "Although channel inventory has been depleted over the past few months, it is still well above the healthy four to six week range.。"。Even with the deep discounts, channel and PC makers can expect the inventory build-up to continue into mid-year and possibly into the third quarter.。"