China PC market suffers 24% decline, Lenovo leads

The PC (desktop, notebook and workstation) shipments to mainland China posted a 24 per cent year-on-year decline in the first quarter, shipping only 8.9 million units. Desktop (including desktop workstations) shipments dropped 28 per cent to 2.8 million units, while notebook (including mobile workstations) shipments were down 22 per cent to 6.1 million units, according to Canalys data.

The tablet market, on the other hand, experienced growth, with total shipments increasing 38 per cent to 6.5 million units. Apple led the tablet market as it more than doubled its shipments to 2.5 million units.

Lenovo remained the top vendor in mainland China but posted a 24 per cent decline as it shipped 3.3 million units in Q1.

Huawei enjoyed a strong quarter, growing its PC shipments by 34 per cent to just under a million units of shipments, taking second place.

Third-placed HP underwent a relatively modest shipment decline of 7 per cent as it reaffirmed its commitment to mainland China as an important sales and manufacturing market during the quarter.

Dell posted the largest decline among the top five vendors, with its PC shipments down by 45 per cent. Asus took fifth place with 0.7 million units of shipments.

"Mainland China`s post-Covid recovery has not brought about a reprieve for the PC industry so far," said Emma Xu, analyst at Canalys.

On the commercial front, overall business investment and spending on IT remained relatively weak despite positive signals from the service sector.

"Although signals point to muted performance in the immediate term, there are positive signs of recovery in the latter half of 2023, with the public sector and large enterprises expected to lead in driving PC demand," Xu added.