Apple, which ranks among the world's biggest companies by market capitalisation saw worldwide computer shipments decline by 40.5 percent during the January-March period owing to a broader contraction in consumer demand, according to IDC data. Worldwide deliveries declined by 2.8 million year-on-year during the quarter.
Not only Apple, all of its computer-making peers - ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo saw worldwide shipments drop by double-digits during the quarter but Apple's drop was the biggest among the lot.
The drop in shipments also reflected in Apple's worldwide PC market share, which dropped to 7.2 percent during January-March 2023 from 8.6 percent in the year-ago period.
However, this was not entirely unexpected. Apple CFO Luca Maestri mentioned in February that Mac and iPad sales during the March quarter may decline in double-digits. This is an extension from the 28.6 percent Mac revenue drop witnessed during the December quarter, which CEO Tim Cook attributed to a challenging macroeconomic environment.
IDC mentioned in its report that the preliminary data also points to the Covid-era demand and at least a temporary return to pre-pandemic patterns.
“Even with heavy discounting, channels and PC makers can expect elevated inventory to persist into the middle of the year and potentially into the third quarter,” IDC researcher Jitesh Ubrani said in the report. The firm expects growth in the PC market to return only by the end of the year.
However, IDC believes that this weak demand gives time to companies like Apple to rejig their plans. The company is pushing suppliers and assemblers to move their operations beyond China. It leased 1.16 lakh square feet of commercial space for 10 years in Bengaluru on Monday at Rs 2.43 crore per month.
Shares of Apple fell 1.6 percent on Monday, dragging the Nasdaq lower. Despite these challenges, shares of Apple are up 30 percent year-to-date. The company will report results on May 4.
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