Worldwide shipments of computerized devices (personal computers, tablets and mobile phones) are expected to decline for the second year in a row in 2023, according to a report released Tuesday.
Global device shipments will fall 11.9% to 1.82 billion in 2022 before falling 4.4% to about 1.7 billion in 2023, analyst firm Gartner Inc. said on Tuesday. announced that it is PC shipments are expected to decline 6.8% to 267.7 million units in 2023, following a 16% decline in 2022. Tablet shipments will decline 2.9% to 133 million units, following a 12% decline in 2022. Mobile phone shipments are forecast to decline 4% to 1.34 billion units in 2023, following an 11% decline last year.
Gartner Senior Director Analyst Ranjit Atwal said in a statement: “In fact, end-user spending on devices is projected to decline by 5.1% in 2023.”
“Just as business confidence started to pick up after the worst of the pandemic, it is now down significantly in most regions,” Atwal added. “We do not expect inflation to ease and the recession to bottom out until the fourth quarter of 2023.”
This is bad news for device makers and suppliers who rely on device makers for their sales, like semiconductor makers. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 005930,
— the company that makes consumer devices such as the Galaxy line of devices and semiconductors — reported a 69% decline in operating profit and an 8% decline in revenue during the holiday period on Tuesday. Rival Apple AAPL,
HP Inc. HPQ,
and Dell Technologies Inc. DELL,
Smartphone shipments also surpassed rivals.
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Gartner expects PC inventory levels to return to normal in the second half of 2023. The cost of clearing inventory has been very tight as prices have fallen in the very stressful holiday channel, making it more difficult for the industry to clear the blockage. Faced the worst drop in his PC shipments ever.
opinion: Intel just had its worst year since the dotcom bankruptcy and it won’t get better anytime soon
This will weigh heavily on the semiconductor sector, which sees fewer orders as device makers hold up inventories. Texas Instruments Inc. TXN,
Last week’s earnings, especially Intel’s INTC,
It’s reporting its worst year since the dotcom bankruptcy. Intel’s rapidly plunging gross margin was fueled by a 400 basis point reduction in inventory cleanups alone.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD,
It will report after Tuesday’s bell, given that CEO Lisa Su said three months ago that the company “definitely ends the year in a better place.” Late Monday, NXP Semiconductors NV NXPI,
Despite reporting inline results, the outlook for the quarter disappointed Wall Street.
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PHLX Semiconductor index SOX,
S&P 500 Index SPX,
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index COMP rose 5.5%,
10% jump.