The third quarter of 2022 was no walk in the park for the PC market. According to the latest data from the analytical company Canalys, overall PC sales in Western Europe fell by 22% during this period. Separately, commercial demand is noted, which is usually stable, but this year has fallen by 20%.

Laptops suffered the worst, with 10.4 million units still missing a quarter of sales. Analysts note the main reason for this is “deteriorating business confidence.” The situation with desktops is a little better, with 6% drop. At the same time, sales of tablets fell by 13%, where the expected increase due to the beginning of the school season did not happen.

At one time, this was preceded by COVID-19. Sales have been growing since the beginning of 2020 and peaked a year later. But in the second quarter of 2021, there was almost no year-on-year growth. The third quarter was a little better, but then the losses started. -3% in the first quarter of 2022, then -18% and -22% in the second and third quarters, respectively.

“Small-to-medium sized businesses cut PC purchases significantly, more than larger organizations, as economic headwinds shrank cashflows and increased interest rates made financing options costlier,” Canalys analyst Kieren Jessop said.

Mr. Jessop also added that consumer demand was affected by inflation and rising energy prices. And due to low demand, trade partners have accumulated stocks – up to 38%, compared to 25% last year.

An improvement in sales towards the end of the year is still not expected. In the long term, Canalys expects growth to occur again in the spring of 2023 through the renewal of equipment purchased during the pandemic. Maybe a lot of people will delay the upgrade until 2024.

But from the end of 2023 to 2026, regular seasonality is expected with a stable level of demand at about 25% of the pre-pandemic level.