PC Shipments Fall 29%, Led by Drop in Apple Devices

PC shipments sagged on weaker demand, with Apple Inc. AAPL -0.76%decrease; red down pointing triangle leading the decline as the industry grapples with a pandemic-driven glut in inventory, according to market research firm International Data Corp.

Global PC shipments tumbled to 56.9 million in the first quarter, down 29% from the same period a year earlier and below the 59.2 million units shipped in the first quarter of 2019, before the pandemic drove a surge in demand, IDC said.

Apple, which IDC says commands a 7.2% share of the global PC market, saw shipments tumble by 40.5%, leading the drop across the five PC companies analyzed in the IDC report. Lenovo Group Ltd.’s shipments fell 30.3%, HP Inc.’s HPQ 0.67%increase; green up pointing triangle shipments dropped by 24.2%, and Dell Technologies Inc. DELL 0.41%increase; green up pointing triangle shipped 31% fewer units than it did a year earlier, according to the report.

Inventories have come down in the past few months but are still elevated, according to Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager at IDC.