PC gross sales worldwide have steadily grown since late final 12 months. The U.S. PC market, nevertheless, has crashed again to earth.
IDC’s preliminary numbers for the second quarter of 2025 present flat year-over-year progress of 0 %, versus 9 % for the remainder of the world. All advised, PC shipments through the second quarter of 2025 grew 6.5 % from the prior 12 months, with international volumes reaching 68.4 million shipments, in accordance with preliminary outcomes from the agency.
In response to IDC, the explanations are fairly easy: U.S. PC distributors made and bought extra PCs than anticipated as a hedge in opposition to looming tariffs. Now, the market expects these tariffs to start kicking in once more, with PC demand slated to drop off through the second half of the 12 months. However nobody is kind of positive what the longer term holds.
“We anticipated the U.S. market to chill down this quarter given the stock buildup to start the 12 months, however what we’re witnessing right here may spotlight U.S. PC demand slowing down in anticipation of the import tariffs looming deadline,” mentioned Jean Philippe Bouchard, analysis vice-president with IDC’s Worldwide Cellular Gadget Trackers, in a press release. “Regardless of a flat U.S. PC market, the remainder of the world demonstrated an urge for food for PCs, fueled by an getting old put in base and by a gradual transition to Home windows 11.”
PC makers are juggling whether or not to construct for a possibility to make the most of a down market, or threat getting caught with stock that it might’t promote, added Ryan Reith, IDC’s group vp.
“The larger concern is what total demand seems to be like as we get late into Q3 and past,” Reith mentioned in a press release. “Value will increase will seemingly be dispersed over time and geography relying on vendor technique which may doubtlessly result in some engaging promotions as a strategy to clear stock backups, which appears odd at a time when costs are anticipated to rise due to tariffs.”
Lenovo continues to be the world’s prime PC maker, with 24.8 % of the market. HP (20.7 %) and Dell (14.3 %) observe behind, then Apple (9.1 %) and Asus (7.2 %). Apple confirmed the strongest progress for the quarter, promoting 21.4 % extra PCs than the identical interval a 12 months in the past.