PC market faces another inflection point

The PC sector has been suffering a similar fate as retail — too much inventory and too little demand.

Why it matters: No major brand has been spared from the slowdown, Bloomberg notes, which comes after the industry saw explosive growth during the earlier part of the pandemic.

• PC shipments had declined for seven consecutive years from 2012-2018 before jumping 14% in 2020 and another 14.5% in 2021, MarketWatch reports.

The intrigue: This current "pause in growth" offers PC makers an opportunity to explore production outside of China, IDC notes in its newest industry tracker.

What to watch: “If the economy is trending upwards by [2024], we expect significant market upside as consumers look to refresh, schools seek to replace worn down Chromebooks, and businesses move to Windows 11,” Linn Huang, research vice president at IDC, said in a statement.