The forecasting company, IDC, has announced that PC monitor shipments fell to record lows in the fourth quarter of last year with shipments falling 18.3% year-over-year. It said that just over 30.5 million units were shipped which is the lowest fourth-quarter volume it has seen since it started recording figures in 2008. It blamed the decline on the economy.
During the work-from-home period in the pandemic, PC sales and monitors got a boost but with people being told to get back to work, this boom has ended in the domestic sector. As for commercial monitor purchases, these deteriorated in the latter half of last year due to “economic sentiments” – all those people being laid off from tech companies, for example, do not need monitors.
"Monitors will remain an afterthought for many buyers in the short term," said Jay Chou, research manager for IDC"s Worldwide Client Device Trackers. "Annual volume had averaged about 125 million before COVID-19, then shot up to over 135 million for each of the past three years. It will take a while for the dust to settle. Consumer and businesses are recalibrating their priorities, but we remain confident that much of the recently expanded installed base will be enticed to upgrade in the coming years."
IDC does not expect the monitor market to pick up this year, in fact, it’s looking at another contraction of 9.8%. As we go into 2024, however, we should begin to see a small recovery that’ll lift shipments above pre-pandemic levels. After that, IDC expects shipment levels to stabilize.