PC Market Hopes To Get Stable After a Long Time

The hoped-for recovery of the conditions on the PC market is still missing. This year, none of the manufacturers need to expect sales figures to at least stabilize – so there is currently little sign of a trough.

Clear double-digit minus

In their latest forecast, the market researchers at IDC assume that global sales figures will be 13.7 percent lower this year than in 2022. Just a few months ago, when the quarterly sales figures fell particularly sharply, one was hoping to point to a softening towards the end of the year, which would have kept the annual minus at least in the single digits.

The strongest decline is recorded in the private customer area, where it is a whopping 16.2 percent down. However, that is not surprising. In recent years, this sector has benefited particularly strongly from the developments of the Corona period. Back then, a lot of people updated their household PC equipment because they suddenly switched to the home office and needed better hardware here.

many employees are returning to the office, corporate investments remain at a low level. The sales figures here this year are expected to be 11.7 percent below the previous year’s figure. The situation is very similar in the education segment.

Windows 10 end-animated

However, the market researchers still see some light on the horizon. In the coming years, the sector should therefore become significantly more dynamic – albeit not at the level that was reached during the Corona period. So it’s more about a slight increase in the lower single-digit percentage range by 2027.

An important factor for the slight recovery will be the expiring Windows 10 support, which is expected to have an impact primarily in 2025. According to IDC analyst Ryan Reith, this will inevitably drive the updating of the hardware base in many companies and also among private customers. But not only the classic PC manufacturers will benefit from this. “It seems clear that Apple sees an opportunity to continue its growth in the commercial segment and this will be an area to watch closely going forward,” said Reith.