Workstation sales soared in 2022 – but the news might not be all good
New numbers from analysts have claimed that workstation sales will rise significantly in 2022, to the point that demand has outstripped supply.
Despite several reports pointing to decreasing PC shipments in 2022, IDC (opens in new tab) figures claim that workstations received a healthy boost compared to 2021, suggesting that the consumer segment suffered the most.
Last year, 7.7 million workstations were shipped, compared to 7.5 million in 2021, representing a healthy but modest growth of 2.2%.
Workstation rise
Dell accounted for the most sales in 2022, accounting for 41.4% of shipments and saw growth in both market share and total sales compared to the previous year.
HP accounted for 33.7% of the market, slightly down from 2021 to make room for Dell’s significant growth, while Lenovo accounted for 24.3% of the market, also down year-over-year.
However, the upward trend did not continue throughout the year, with workstation shipments dropping 22.2% in Q4 compared to Q4 2021, which IDC says is a sign of things to come.
Looking ahead, IDC said it expects global shipments to decline 4.2% year over year in 2023 as the market cools and focus shifts to inventory clearance and budget discipline.
Contributing to the declines seen towards the end of 2022 and expected for 2023 was the “unsustainable” growth achieved over the course of four consecutive quarters from the third quarter of 2021, likely causing a slowdown, even outside the context of global economic pressures.
However, the market intelligence agency predicts this could be a temporary dip with companies refining their focus and increasing spending again, with “solid recovery” hoped for 2024 and 2025 amid the emergence of new models and a push toward Windows 11.
“From Q3 2021 through Q2 2022, we had four consecutive quarters where shipments exceeded two million units,” said Jay Chou, research manager, IDC Worldwide Client Devices Tracker.
“This was well above historical norms and proved unsustainable in the face of tighter budgets and continued inflation. After two years of strong buying, we expect enterprise IT to turn away from endpoint devices and we will likely see volume in 2023 shrinking by 4.2%. This “This is a small change from our previous forecast, which expected a milder contraction. However, beyond the short-term challenges, we believe that the launch of new models, the transition to Windows 11 and other factors should drive growth from 2024.”