PC shipments are predicted to decline 9.5 per cent world-wide in 2022, according to a forecast from Gartner, Inc. If this prediction is accurate, the PC market would face the steepest decline of all device segments in the current year.
“A perfect storm of geopolitical upheaval, high inflation, currency fluctuations and supply chain disruptions have lowered business and consumer demand for devices across the world and is set to impact the PC market the hardest in 2022,” stated Ranjit Atwal, senior director analyst at Gartner. “Consumer PC demand is on pace to decline 13.1 per cent in 2022 and will plummet much faster than business PC demand, which is expected to decline 7.2 per cent year over year.”
The PC market in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) is predicted to decline by 14 per cent in 2022, driven by lack of consumer PC demand. A number of reasons are cited in the Gartner Inc. release, including the situation in Ukraine, price increases, and unavailability of products due to COVID lockdowns in China.
China and Eastern Europe are also predicted to experience double digit drops.
On a global basis, all devices (PCs, tablets and mobile phones) are predicted to decline 7.6 per cent in 2022.