In short: Earlier this year, IDC said that global PC shipments will decline by 28 percent in 2022. The PC workstation market, however, is a completely different animal that has managed to grow despite the decline.
The latest figures provided by the International Data Corporation (IDC) depict a grim snapshot of the PC workstation market. The sector grew in 2022, experiencing “strong momentum” at the beginning of the year while ending the last quarter facing saturation and a more severe economic reality.
For the full year, IDC said, the market experienced 2.1 percent growth with nearly 7.7 million units shipped – a record-breaking result compared to 7.5 million units shipped. in 2021. mobile workstation adoption amid the Covid-19 pandemic, 2022 derived from a “recovery of the desktop workstation” (due to employees returning to the office) while the mobile side of the business falls.
Between the third quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022, the PC workstation market experienced four consecutive quarters with shipments exceeding the two million unit mark, IDC research manager Jay Chou said. A result “beyond historical norms” that ultimately proved “unsustainable in the face of tightened budgets and ongoing inflation,” Chou said.
IDC also provides data for the five largest companies in the workstation market, with Dell keeping the top spot and a 41.4 percent market share. By the end of 2022, the Texas-based corporation grew by 6.4 percent, shipping almost 3.1 million workstations thanks to a “measured approach” to inventory management. HP Inc. is number two (+1.2 percent year-on-year) with continued focus on mobile form factors, while the third place vendor Lenovo experienced negative growth (-3.2 percent) due to slow demand for premium and its value. tiered models.
Taiwanese company Asus overtook NEC for fourth place to maintain its smaller niche in the desktop workstation space (+24.3 percent YoY for a 0.3 percent market share), while Japanese corporation NEC suffered the worst result in the business (-22.7 percent, 0.3 percent market share. ) to end up in fifth place.
After the pandemic hangover and the return of office momentum, IDC predicts a global drop in shipments of 4.2 percent for 2023. The workstation market should cool as companies shift their focus to cleaning up inventory and “budgetary discipline,” says IDC. Shipments should, however, return to a strong recovery in 2024 and 2025, the market research firm concluded.