According to market research firm IDC, Apple suffered the biggest blow among PC manufacturers in the first quarter as global sales took a hit. The report showed that shipments of Mac computers plummeted by 40.5% to 4.1 million units in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, marking the largest decline among top PC sellers. The slump in sales affected other companies as well, with Dell Technologies seeing a 31% drop, while Lenovo and ASUS both fell by 30.3%, and HP’s sales declined by 24.2%.

This significant decline in PC sales is attributed to the return of workers to the office, which cooled the high demand for tech products that arose during the pandemic-induced shift towards remote work. The slowdown in sales indicates a return to pre-pandemic patterns, as per IDC’s report. IDC also noted that the heavy discounting used by channels and PC makers to reduce inventory did not help much, and the elevated inventory is expected to persist at least until the middle of the year.

Apple’s stock dropped by nearly 2.5% in early trading on Monday, while Dell’s stock initially fell but then recovered to trade 2% higher. The decline in sales trends for PC manufacturers is likely to continue, and any improvement is dependent on the state of the global economy, IDC added. Linn Huang, IDC’s research vice president for devices and displays, said that an aging installed base would start coming up for refresh by 2024, and significant market upside could be expected if the economy is trending upwards by then. However, if the recession in key markets drags on into next year, the recovery could be slow.

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