The most recent data from International Data Corporation (IDC) indicates that technology markets in Australia and New Zealand, particularly the personal computer (PC) and smartphone sectors, have experienced significant declines. IDC's announcements highlight a consistent decrease in both markets over the past quarters.

In Australia, the traditional PC market, comprising desktops, notebooks, and workstations, saw a decline of 12.4% year-over-year (YoY) in the third quarter of 2023. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of such YoY declines. The market shipped a total of 1.02 million units during this period.

Similarly, New Zealand's traditional PC market experienced a decline in the same quarter. IDC's data shows an 8.3% YoY drop, marking a similar trend of six uninterrupted quarters of YoY declines. In total, 165 thousand units were shipped in the third quarter of 2023.

Australia's smartphone market also showed a downward trend, recording a 9.3% YoY drop in 3Q23. This sector saw the shipment of 1.81 million units during this time, signifying its fourth consecutive quarter of YoY declines, despite a minor uplift in July due to the end of the financial year sales.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's smartphone market did not fare any better. According to IDC, it declined by 13.5% YoY in the third quarter of 2023, marking its fourth consecutive quarter of YoY declines. New Zealand shipped a total of 346,000 smartphone units during the said period.

“The economic condition in Australia is marred by rising interest rates and escalating living expenses, putting a damper on consumer spending. This situation posed a risk to businesses as well, as their initial response was to implement cost-cutting measures or delay spending,” said Sharmishtha Bhatt, Lead Analyst for Personal Computing Devices Research at IDC Australia.

Among the Top Five companies, Lenovo overtook HP for the top spot. This can be attributed to strong shipments in the consumer and education segments due to the anticipated demand during the year-end sales and education.

2023 outlook

Australia’s PC market is expected to decline by 11.7% YoY in 2023. End-of-year events like Black Friday and Boxing Day sales are expected to provide some momentum to the consumer segment in 4Q23. Vendors and channels both have geared up by offering attractive deals and consumer offers. However, due to challenging economic conditions, the commercial segment will remain muted through the first half of 2024.

In other news, IDC has been named the Analyst Firm of the Year - Global 2023 for the fourth year in a row by the IIAR>, cementing its reputation as an essential player in providing crucial industry insights and forecasts.