PC Shipments Plunge Nearly 20%, Steepest Drop in More Than 20 Years (opens in new tab)

(wsj.com)

15 pointsgabythenerd3y ago37 comments

37 comments

27 comments · 8 top-level

sidewndr463y ago· 6 in thread

Didn't everyone buy or build PCs during the lockdown portion of the pandemic? I'm thinking now that all that latent demand has been satisfied, PC sales are just going back to normal.

barbariangrunge3y ago

Came here to post this. It’s no wonder that people call the media fake news when they post this alarmist nonsense all the time — the way they abuse headlines has really earned them their reputation.

I miss boring news. CTV seems decent. Any other outlets someone would recommend?

AnimalMuppet3y ago

Did you maybe post this in the wrong place? It seems completely unrelated to the post it's replying to.

1 more reply

humanlion873y ago

And before the pandemic PC sales have been declining/stagnating for a while. Nothing surprising here except that WSJ is also getting into the clickbait-headline-useless-article territory.

downrightmike3y ago

Yeah, really the only reason a lot of people upgraded was the fear of supply chain issues and AMD CPUs got good. Performance finally came up to justify the expense, and now there is nothing significantly more performant. Either prices need to come down, or new tech needs to come out to make it work it. I'm still on a 2012 Xeon system, No Change Needed.

simooooo3y ago

Well I’d upgrade still, but DDR5 is a requirement for the high end AMD stuff now, and that is just outright expensive

stjohnswarts3y ago

showing long term trends doesn't fit their narrative though.

Comevius3y ago· 4 in thread

Not surprising, in this environment you either have much more money or much less depending on which side of the wage gap you are on as inequality keeps growing, and yet nobody would buy a new computer that doesn't function better than the old ones.

That's what Apple did right with the M1 and M2 and the demand for them keeps growing. All the PC industry have is overheating components and Windows 11 with it's terrible user experience. Intel and AMD are battling over benchmarks with their 300W TDP processors when all the market wants is battery life. They completely lost the plot.

sidewndr463y ago

You are very misinformed if you think the PC industry only has Windows 11 as an operating system.

Comevius3y ago

So I looked around and almost all Lenovo, HP and Asus computers are sold with Windows 11 or no operating system. There are a few Chromebooks with ChromeOS. Lenovo have a few workstations with Linux, they are targeting small businesses with them.

Did I miss something?

1 more reply

temp2022account3y ago

Existing as a single statistic: last 2 machines I built are running Arch.

mmphosis3y ago

I run Windows 10 because there is no reason to update to Windows 11. Windows still has 90% of the notebook & desktop PC market, but Android has surpassed Windows. And, yes I run other operating systems but it’s not easy to install on PC hardware.

PaulHoule3y ago· 3 in thread

I've been thinking about building a new machine based on the latest hardware but prices are still high. If they let prices drop a little the demand might be there.

humanlion873y ago

Especially the GPU prices. Even though they have come down, there is still room to drop considering the flood of second-hand GPUs entering the market.

Acutulus3y ago

How long were those prices elevated? I seem to recall the beginning of the upward creep in mid 2017-early 2018 but it's hard to recall. It certainly feels like it's been 4-5 years.

I enjoyed checking the secondary market prices of my 1060 3GB every few months during those years as a repeatable source of shock. GPU prices had incredible staying power for a while there. But now? Now it's time to jump back in, helllooooo RTX

PaulHoule3y ago

I was hoping to see GPU prices on Ebay drop after the Ethereum merge but it didn't seem to happen.

abudabi1233y ago· 3 in thread

Do people with an iPhone and an iPad have a use for a PC? I don't think so.

stjohnswarts3y ago

lol until my iphone has a 40" screen, no it doesn't replace a PC. If you want to stare at a 6-7" screen all day then have at it, but your eyes aren't going to appreciate it when you're 50.

scarface743y ago

You’re right, and people haven’t watched TV in 20 years.

thakoppno3y ago

It appears you’re being facetious but it’s been about ten years now of TV watching for me accompanied by my smartphone.

TV watching in the most traditional sense is dead in my opinion.

3 more replies

andrewmcwatters3y ago· 2 in thread

Just adding another data point here, but for those who game on a PC, the GPU market was upside down for a while. It was cheaper to buy, say a Dell XPS, than build your own PC for a period of time.

Then prices plummeted, and all returned to normal. Not sure if it plays much of a factor, but it did for me when I was determining whether or not to buy or build.

PeterStuer3y ago

If by 'normal' you mean the 'new normal'. Prices on new GPU's might feel like a bargain compared to the Cryto/Covid/Generational perfect storm of the last 3 years, but they remain high compared to what a decent mid-range system used to be at, even accounting for inflation.

andrewmcwatters3y ago

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti $699 (2016), ~$862.57 (2022)[1][2]

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti $899.99 (2022)[3]

*$200 GPU price point:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super $209.99 (2022)[3]

[1]: https://benchmarks.ul.com/hardware/gpu/NVIDIA+GeForce+GTX+10...

[2]: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/05/nvidia-gtx-1080-1070...

[3]: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MHTVDAyU7i8oXYAlmGPE...

ChrisLTD3y ago· 1 in thread

What goes up...

> It would be easy to think PC sales dropped worldwide last year amid chip shortages, but that conventional thinking would be wrong. As it turns out, Canalys reports that PC shipments grew 15% year over year in 2021 and were up 27% over 2019, with a whopping 341 million units sold.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/12/canalys-worldwide-pc-shipm...

jdhn3y ago

Thanks for posting this, all these handwringing articles about PC shipments dropping are forgetting that there was a huge bump up from Covid purchases. We're just returning to normalcy now.

glonq3y ago

Over the years, I have definitely slowed the pace at which I build & upgrade my PC's for work and for home.

I can happily live with a couple-generation-old CPU because it performs good enough.

I can reluctantly live with a couple-generation-old GPU, because the new ones are priced prohibitively.

EricE3y ago

CPU and GPU gains have been pretty modest for over a decade. Unless you are facing hardware failure (or the infamous Windows 'rot') I doubt many people have a legitimate reason to upgrade machines on a routine basis as they once did.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

37 comments

27 comments · 8 top-level

sidewndr463y ago· 6 in thread

Didn't everyone buy or build PCs during the lockdown portion of the pandemic? I'm thinking now that all that latent demand has been satisfied, PC sales are just going back to normal.

barbariangrunge3y ago

I miss boring news. CTV seems decent. Any other outlets someone would recommend?

AnimalMuppet3y ago

Did you maybe post this in the wrong place? It seems completely unrelated to the post it's replying to.

1 more reply

humanlion873y ago

And before the pandemic PC sales have been declining/stagnating for a while. Nothing surprising here except that WSJ is also getting into the clickbait-headline-useless-article territory.

downrightmike3y ago

simooooo3y ago

Well I’d upgrade still, but DDR5 is a requirement for the high end AMD stuff now, and that is just outright expensive

stjohnswarts3y ago

showing long term trends doesn't fit their narrative though.

Comevius3y ago· 4 in thread

sidewndr463y ago

You are very misinformed if you think the PC industry only has Windows 11 as an operating system.

Comevius3y ago

Did I miss something?

1 more reply

temp2022account3y ago

Existing as a single statistic: last 2 machines I built are running Arch.

mmphosis3y ago

PaulHoule3y ago· 3 in thread

I've been thinking about building a new machine based on the latest hardware but prices are still high. If they let prices drop a little the demand might be there.

humanlion873y ago

Especially the GPU prices. Even though they have come down, there is still room to drop considering the flood of second-hand GPUs entering the market.

Acutulus3y ago

How long were those prices elevated? I seem to recall the beginning of the upward creep in mid 2017-early 2018 but it's hard to recall. It certainly feels like it's been 4-5 years.

PaulHoule3y ago

I was hoping to see GPU prices on Ebay drop after the Ethereum merge but it didn't seem to happen.

abudabi1233y ago· 3 in thread

Do people with an iPhone and an iPad have a use for a PC? I don't think so.

stjohnswarts3y ago

lol until my iphone has a 40" screen, no it doesn't replace a PC. If you want to stare at a 6-7" screen all day then have at it, but your eyes aren't going to appreciate it when you're 50.

scarface743y ago

You’re right, and people haven’t watched TV in 20 years.

thakoppno3y ago

It appears you’re being facetious but it’s been about ten years now of TV watching for me accompanied by my smartphone.

TV watching in the most traditional sense is dead in my opinion.

3 more replies

andrewmcwatters3y ago· 2 in thread

Just adding another data point here, but for those who game on a PC, the GPU market was upside down for a while. It was cheaper to buy, say a Dell XPS, than build your own PC for a period of time.

Then prices plummeted, and all returned to normal. Not sure if it plays much of a factor, but it did for me when I was determining whether or not to buy or build.

PeterStuer3y ago

andrewmcwatters3y ago

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti $699 (2016), ~$862.57 (2022)[1][2]

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti $899.99 (2022)[3]

*$200 GPU price point:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super $209.99 (2022)[3]

[1]: https://benchmarks.ul.com/hardware/gpu/NVIDIA+GeForce+GTX+10...

[2]: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/05/nvidia-gtx-1080-1070...

[3]: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MHTVDAyU7i8oXYAlmGPE...

ChrisLTD3y ago· 1 in thread

What goes up...

https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/12/canalys-worldwide-pc-shipm...

jdhn3y ago

Thanks for posting this, all these handwringing articles about PC shipments dropping are forgetting that there was a huge bump up from Covid purchases. We're just returning to normalcy now.

glonq3y ago

Over the years, I have definitely slowed the pace at which I build & upgrade my PC's for work and for home.

I can happily live with a couple-generation-old CPU because it performs good enough.

I can reluctantly live with a couple-generation-old GPU, because the new ones are priced prohibitively.

EricE3y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse