Due to a perfect storm of geopolitics and high inflation, global shipments of PCs, tablets and phones are all in decline, according to Gartner’s latest forecasts. Global PC shipments are set to decline by 9.5% in 2022, according to the latest forecast by Gartner. “A perfect storm of geopolitics upheaval, high inflation, currency fluctuations and supply chain disruptions have lowered business and consumer demand for devices across the world and is set to impact the PC market the hardest in 2022,” said Ranjit Atwal, senior director analyst at Gartner, in comments published alongside Gartner’s data. In EMEA, this figure is expected to decline further, by around 14%, with a combination of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, price increases, and unavailability of products from China due to ongoing lockdowns all leading to a softening of consumer demand. Tablets and mobile phone shipments are also expected to decline over the same period, with Gartner predicting a 9% and 7% fall respectively. The 5G phone market is expected to be hit hard by the downturn too, due largely to the collapse of the smartphone market in China. Atwal said that at the beginning of the year, the Greater China 5G phone market was expected to show double-digit growth. However, the impact of China’s zero tolerance COVID-19 policy and resulting lockdowns has stopped large numbers of consumers from buying non-essential items, including 5G smartphones. “The growth rate is significantly down from an expected increase of 47% at the start of the year, with a resulting loss of 95 million 5G phone shipments,” he said. This global decline is likely to have an impact on chipmakers too. After the release of its Q1 2022 financial results in April, Intel CFO David Zimmer told analysts that component supply constraints were a continuing challenge, with the most recent COVID lockdowns in Shanghai further increasing supply chain risk and contributing to inflationary pressures negatively impacting the PC market. Related content news analysis Apple confirms it will open up the iPad in Europe this fall The latest efforts to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act mean developers can offer to side load apps to both iPhones and iPads in the EU. Apple has also taken steps to improve what it offers to smaller and non-commercial developers in the By Jonny Evans May 02, 2024 6 mins iPad Apple Mobile Apps news Udacity offers laid-off US workers free access to its courses for 30 days Sign-ups will be available over the next 30 days By Lucas Mearian May 02, 2024 4 mins Technology Industry IT Jobs IT Skills opinion Why you’ll soon have a digital clone of your own AI isn’t going to replace you at work. You will. By Mike Elgan May 02, 2024 7 mins Augmented Reality Generative AI Virtual Reality news analysis Workers with these AI skills are getting cash premiums As AI deployments become more critical to digital transformation projects, organizations are struggling to find skilled workers to support the new technology, so they're paying premiums for prospective hires or current employees who obtain the n By Lucas Mearian May 01, 2024 7 mins Generative AI IT Jobs IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe