Shipments of personal computers fell earlier this year amid the economic downturn.
That’s according to a report issued Sunday (April 9) by market research firm IDC, which found that worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments fell 29% year over year during the first three months of this year.
“Weak demand, excess inventory, and a worsening macroeconomic climate were all contributing factors for the precipitous drop in shipments of traditional PCs during the first quarter of 2023,” IDC said in a news release.
Out of the five companies examined in the report, Apple was hit hardest, with shipments falling 40.5% during the quarter. Dell followed with a 31% decline.
“Though channel inventory has depleted in the last few months, it’s still well above the healthy four to six week range,” Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said in the news release.
“Even with heavy discounting, channels and PC makers can expect elevated inventory to persist into the middle of the year and potentially into the third quarter.”
The report notes that PC shipments will shrink in the near term, but could improve in the long term if the world economy picks up and people begin to think about upgrading their computers.
“By 2024, an aging installed base will start coming up for refresh,” said Linn Huang, research vice president for devices and displays at IDC.
“If the economy is trending upwards by then, we expect significant market upside as consumers look to refresh, schools seek to replace worn down Chromebooks, and businesses move to Windows 11. If recession in key markets drags on into next year, recovery could be a slog.”
IDC’s report follows similar findings from the research firm Gartner earlier this year that projected a worldwide drop in PC and smartphone shipments for 2023.
As PYMNTS noted last week, the question of how the economic outlook will affect spending among consumers earning more is still up in the air.
But recent research indicates consumers in all income groups plan to travel, and purchase home electronics and expensive apparel this year.
Consumers who live paycheck to paycheck without trouble paying their bills say they expect to spend more on non-essentials like clothes and gadgets this year. Where they’ll buy those things is another story.
“Once-loyal customers are turning into merchant-agnostic deal-chasers, as 56% of U.S. retail shoppers have switched merchants in the name of cost-cutting, and price influences 67% of shoppers’ choice of a large retailer,” PYMNTS wrote last week.
Work marketplace Upwork earned record revenue in 2024 and attributed its gains in part to artificial intelligence (AI).
In an earnings release and other materials issued Wednesday (Feb. 12), the company highlighted AI innovations it added to its marketplace platform and AI talent the platform connects with its clients.
“We’ve rapidly unlocked demand for AI-related work on our platform,” Upwork President and CEO Hayden Brown said in prepared remarks for the company’s quarterly earnings call.
Upwork reported full-year revenue of $769.3 million, which marked a 12% year-over-year gain and an all-time high, according to the earnings release.
The company achieved this gain during a year in which the broader staffing industry saw a 9% decline in revenue, Brown said in her prepared remarks.
During the year, the gross services volume (GSV) from AI-related work grew 60% and the number of clients engaging in AI-related projects grew 42%.
In addition, in 2024, the hourly earnings of freelancers engaged in AI-related work were 44% higher than those of other freelancers, per the release.
AI has been the fastest growing major category on the Upwork platform for several quarters, with clients seeking talent in prompt engineering, AI integration, generative AI modeling, and data labeling and annotation, according to an investor presentation released Wednesday.
During the Q&A portion of the earnings call, Brown said Upwork has grown and “shape-shifted” to meet the emerging demand for AI talent just as it did in the past, when there was newly created demand for social media managers and mobile developers.
“We are also leveraging AI on our platform to underpin the evolution of predictive and delightful conversational customer experiences,” Brown said in her prepared remarks.
Upwork enhanced its platform in April by adding an AI assistant called Uma that performs tasks like creating tailored proposal drafts for freelancers, evaluating candidates for clients, and scoping projects and designing optimal teams of experts for larger clients, according to the earnings release and the presentation.
The firm also acquired AI-native search-as-a-service company Objective, a move it said allowed Upwork to enhance the search and match performance of its platform, strengthen the company’s AI and machine learning teams, and continue to develop new capabilities for Uma.
“As the AI work tide builds, organizations of all sizes are seeking out more flexible talent models that match their needs for new and emerging skills, with partners who integrate cutting edge AI technology and valued human workers seamlessly and at scale to rapidly deliver on their priorities,” Brown said in her remarks.
“At the same time, professionals across geographies, specialties and industries want digitally powered ways of working that give them easy access to more autonomy, flexibility and earning power.”