The global personal-computer (PC) market experienced another sluggish quarter, with a decline in global shipments by 13.4% compared to the previous year, according to International Data Corp (IDC). This marked the sixth consecutive quarter of contraction for the PC market – a troubling trend that IDC attributes to various factors such as macroeconomic headwinds, weak demand from both consumers and business customers, and a shift in IT budget priorities.
However, despite the overall weak performance, IDC also reported some positive signs in the second quarter. PC sales exceeded expectations and notably improved compared to the first quarter, where shipments had declined sharply by 29% on a year-over-year basis. Notably, both HP and Apple outperformed the rest of the industry during this period.
Lenovo maintained its position as the market leader in PC shipments, despite experiencing a decline of 18.4% from the previous year. The company shipped 14.2 million units in the quarter, securing a market share of 23.1%.
Meanwhile, HP demonstrated surprising resiliency by only experiencing a modest decline of 0.8% in shipments compared to the previous year. With 13.4 million units shipped, HP held a market share of 21.8% in the June quarter. IDC highlighted that HP has successfully tackled its oversupply of inventory over the past year and is now approaching normalized levels.
Overall, while the personal-computer market remains challenged, the second quarter showed some signs of improvement compared to the previous quarter. However, industry leaders still face significant hurdles as they navigate through ongoing market headwinds and shifting customer demands.
PC Shipments: HP Leads, Dell Declines, Apple Holds Steady
In the latest report on PC shipments, HP Inc. emerged as the frontrunner with a 7.1% annual growth rate, shipping a total of 14.2 million units. This performance is in stark contrast to rival Dell Technologies, which experienced a 22% decline in shipments over the same period, reaching just 10.3 million units.
One key factor contributing to HP’s success lies in its limited exposure to the enterprise PC market, which has been relatively weaker compared to the consumer market. In contrast, Dell’s higher reliance on the enterprise sector has impacted its shipment figures.
Meanwhile, Apple witnessed a steady quarter with Mac sales growing by 10.3% to reach 5.3 million units. This performance aligns with market expectations, considering the supply issues the company faced last year due to Covid-related component manufacturing shutdowns.
Rounding out the top five, Acer Group shipped 4 million units, showing a decline of 19.2% compared to the previous year.
Citi analyst Asiya Merchant has highlighted the potential for upside growth for both Apple and HP’s PC segment revenue based on these results. Merchant’s research note emphasizes the need to keep an eye on HP stock as the preliminary results suggest the possibility of exceeding July quarter PC revenue expectations. It is worth noting that HP stock has recently underperformed other hardware stocks.
Merchant, who has recently started covering the PC sector, initiated coverage of HP stock with a Neutral rating and rated Dell stock as a Buy.
In early Tuesday trading, HP stock has increased by 3.8% to reach $32.73, Dell stock has seen a modest rise of 0.7%, and Apple stock has maintained a relatively stable value.