5. Unprecedented PC slowdown
Impact rating: 8/10
Any round up of 2023 would not be complete without some reference to the pain the PC slowdown inflicted on the sector.
The soft client market has left a hole in the sales ledgers of many of the big vendors and partners this year.
In their most recent quarters, the world’s largest distributor, TD Synnex, and world’s largest IT solutions provider, CDW, recorded a 9.1% and 9.4% annual sales slump, respectively.
Closer to home, Softcat’s CEO acknowledged that slowing client device sales were a factor in its reduced rate of annual growth this year.
While analysts had expressed hope that the PC slowdown had passed its trough, Dell struck a less optimistic note in its recent Q3 results as its Client Solutions Group business missed expectations.
Dell COO Jeff Clarke acknowledged that Q4 is set to bring an eighth straight quarter of negative growth in the PC industry – “the longest I can recollect”.
He remains hopeful of a big refresh in 2024, however.
“There will be 300 million PCs turning four years old next year. That’s typically a tipping point for upgrading in commercial,” Clarke said.
PCs weren’t the only casualty of slowing spend in 2023, with even public cloud and cybersecurity experiencing a deceleration in their lightning growth from previous years.
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