According to recent research, shipments of desktops, laptops, tablets, and workstations in the United States declined 16% year on year to 30.3 million units in the third quarter (Q3) as the education sector hit saturation.
According to Canalys, notebook shipments dropped to 17.1 million units, a 15% decrease year on year, due to a steep dip in Chromebooks as the education sector approached saturation.
As customer demand weakened, tablet shipments fell 24% to 10 million devices.
Desktops were the best-performing category, with sales up by 6% to 3.2 million units due to a return to on-premises work, making them a more feasible alternative for business clients than a year ago, according to the research.
“The US PC market slowed after several consecutive quarters of double-digit growth,” said Brian Lynch, research analyst at Canalys.
Despite this, overall shipments remained high when compared with pre-pandemic levels.
“Much of the decline can be attributed to the education and consumer segments, which have reached saturation point, leading to a dramatic fall in Chromebook and tablet shipments,” he added.
Dell topped the US PC market in Q3, gaining 10% year on year to 5.6 million shipments.
At the same time, HP, the market’s leading Chromebook seller, had a significant dip in Q3. Its shipments plummeted 31%, owing mostly to a reduction in education procurement.
According to the research, Lenovo increased shipments by 3% year on year, while Apple decreased by 14% as demand for M1 MacBooks began to level out following a series of extraordinarily good quarters.
Tablet shipments in the United States plummeted by more than 23% in the third quarter, as the requirement to enable more screen access, basic computing, and connection for homes declined compared to the peak of the epidemic.
As iPads dominate the US market, Apple maintained its first position with a 45 percent market share.
