Global PC shipments down 4.3% in Q1 at 78.7 mn units amid chip shortage

Global PC shipments fell 4.3 per cent (on-year) in the March quarter this year to reach 78.7 million units, a new report showed on Thursday.

The Covid-19 lockdowns in China, especially in Shanghai and Kunshan, where many laptop manufacturing lines are located, will further cause shipment correction in April.

Compared to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), original design manufacturers (ODMs) currently face more issues related to manufacturing resource allocation than component shortage impacts, according to Counterpoint Research.

"The PC supply chain turned relatively conservative on shipment outlook in the middle of Q1 2022, largely dragged by global inflation and regional conflict, which brought uncertainties to PC demand and blurred the overall PC shipment momentum ahead," said research analyst William Li.

"The overall PC shipments in 2022 are expected to be shy of our forecasts made at the end of 2021," he added.

Lenovo maintained its lead in the global PC market in Q1 2022 with a 23.1 per cent share and a total shipments of 18.2 million units.

HP took a 20.2 per cent share to capture the second spot. At third place, Dell posted a slight increase in its shipments in the first quarter of 2022, riding on the commercial/premium product strategy tailwinds.

Apple continued its success with the M1 MacBook series to see 8 per cent YoY shipment growth in Q1 2022, the report said.