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| The demand for computers is growing slower |
Due to delivery problems related to the pandemic, the US PC market declined in the last quarter. This is the first drop in the US market since the pandemic caused many people to purchase new devices in the past 18 months.
Overall, analysis by market research firms Gartner and IDC showed that the global market grew in the third quarter. But the speed is slower than what we've seen during the pandemic.
According to Gartner, consumer spending and education shifted away from PCs to other priorities this quarter, dragging down demand.
The best example of this is the 17% drop in Chromebook shipments. Gartner added it to its traditional PC shipments for the first time this quarter.
Both IDC and Gartner reported 84.1 million device shipments in the third quarter, while IDC estimates the number at 86.7 million.
Both IDC and Canalys have highlighted supply issues related to the pandemic. The head of research at IDC, a mobile and consumer tracking company, said the PC industry is still hampered by shipping and logistics issues. In the past few months, these problems haven't improved much.
These supply issues seem to have a greater impact on mobile devices than on desktop devices. Gartner and Canalys both saw strong growth in desktop computers.
Gartner said that after Microsoft, Nvidia and TSMC warned that chip shortages in the industry will continue into 2022, that component shortage is expected to continue through the first half of 2022.
Computer shipments are increasing worldwide
The scarcity and strength of the US hardware market arose when Microsoft released Windows 11.
The software giant started shipping Windows 11 Surface devices last week. and mobile devices from manufacturers such as Asus, Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard.
Other PC manufacturers like Acer, Dell, and Samsung are also expected to release new Windows 11 devices soon.
The shortage may make it difficult to find devices running Windows 11 at the end of the year. Supply chain issues affect wireless network modules, power management circuits, etc.