PC shipments are forecast to grow 3.7 per cent year-on-year to hit 261.4 million units in 2024, putting them above 2018 levels, but not quite on par with 2019. However, 2023 is predicted to sink by 13.7 percent to 252 million units.

Research manager Jitesh Ubrani called demand "tepid at best" and said 2023 will be the year with the "greatest annual decline in consumer PC shipments since the category's inception."

IDC recognises the market still faces challenges including "concerns around the consumer market refresh cycle, businesses pushing device purchases forward, and education budgets that are not rebounding in many markets."

Market hesitancy, as always, boils down to uncertainty. For one, processors are seeing what IDC called "some of the biggest shifts in commercial PC history" as AMD market share hit 11 percent in 2022 and Apple pulled in just over  five per cent that year.

Apple device sales have been on a decline for multiple quarters now. First quarter 2023 saw new Macs plummet more than 40 per cent year-on-year, compared to an overall 25-30 percent among PC vendors.