The total number of traditional PCs shipped around the globe fell by almost 30% during the first quarter of 2023 when compared to the same period the previous year according to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computer Device Tracking tool.  The IDC’s service reported that global shipments of traditional PCs topped out at 56.9 million units during Q1 2023, a 29% decrease from Q1 2022.

The shipping drop-off was reportedly caused by weak global demands, excess inventory, and a worsening macroeconomic climate based on an April 9 report from the IDC analyzing the service’s recent findings.

The report’s authors claimed that the IDC’s preliminary data showed an end is coming to COVID-driven PC shipping demands. Additionally, the authors wrote that the global PC shipping market will experience “a temporary return to pre-COVID patterns.” The claim was backed by data revealing the shipment volume of traditional PCs during Q1 2023 was lower than the 59.2 million units shipped during Q1 2019 and the 60.6 million units shipped during Q1 2018.

The authors of the IDC report also investigated data from the five biggest global shippers of traditional PCs and determined that all five companies experienced a decline in units shipped from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023. Lenovo, which sent out the most traditional PCs during the quarter, saw shipments fall 30.3% year-over-year. HP Inc, which placed second on the IDC’s list, faced a 24.2% drop in shipments. Dell Technologies shipped out 31% fewer units than it did during the first quarter of 2022. Apple experienced the biggest decline of the top five businesses after its global shipment numbers fell by 40.5% year-over-year. ASUS rounded out the top five with a 30.3% drop-off in units shipped.

All other companies around the globe managed to distribute 14.7 million traditional PCs during the first quarter of this year. That represented a 26% drop when compared to Q1 2022.