HP, one of the big computer devices companies, has been shocked by the slowdown in the personal computer market. In the first quarter of the current year, the sales of the company’s personal systems segment (desktop and notebook PC) have declined by 29 percent. There was a decline of about five percent in the printing segment of the company. Market research firm IDC has reported that global PC shipments declined by approximately 30 percent in the first quarter. There was a strong increase in demand for companies like HP, Lenovo and Dell during Corona. The main reason for this was the increase in sales of laptops and other electronic devices due to the staff of many companies working from home. In the last few months, sales of devices like laptops have declined due to most companies calling workers back to office. HP expects revenue to grow in the second half of the current year. “The second half will be better from a consumer demand perspective,” Enrique Lores, the company’s CEO, told Reuters. The company’s revenue in the last quarter was $12.91 billion. Analysts had estimated it to be a little more than $13 billion. However, the company’s net income increased to $1.1 billion. It was one billion dollars in the same period last year. Global shipments of PC declined to 5.69 crore in the first quarter of this year. It was Rs 8.02 crore in the same period last year. In the last quarter of last year, these shipments had declined by 28.1 percent on a year-on-year basis. Apple’s shipments declined the most in the first quarter by about 40.5 percent. The PC market in India grew only 0.3 percent last year. However, this market has registered a decline of 28.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. This market includes desktops, notebooks and workstations. The notebook category declined 37.8 percent in the fourth quarter, while desktop shipments increased. HP ranks first in the country’s PC market. Its market share is more than 30 percent. Last year, the global market for personal computers had declined by 16 percent. Recession, increase in energy costs and high interest rates were the major reasons behind this.
