While component shortages are beginning to ease, Gartner attributes the PC decline to inflationary pressure and a “sharp decline in demand for Chromebooks.” During the first two years of the pandemic, the PC market experienced phenomenal growth, but the combination of rising energy, fuel, and food prices, as well as people spending less time at home, has brought the PC market back to reality.
According to Gartner, the PC market in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa fell by 18 percent. “This is a significant drop in total volume after two years of very strong growth spurred by COVID-19 and renewed consumer and education interest in PCs,” says Mikako Kitagawa, research director at Gartner. “The abandonment or complete cessation of operations in Russia as a result of the Ukrainian war had an even greater impact on the PC market, as Russian PC shipments for leading PC vendors used to contribute between 5-10% of total EMEA PC volume.”
