China's PC, smartphone market set for slowdown

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China's PC, smartphone market set for slowdown

China's slowing economy and an inflation-driven drop in consumer spending are expected to drag down global shipments of computers and phones this year, according to Gartner.

According to a report on Thursday, Gartner expects a 7 per cent drop in worldwide smartphone shipments to China, the world's biggest smartphone market, to shrink by 18 per cent as demand takes a beating from strict COVID-19 curbs that halted activity in key economic hubs such as Shanghai.

A perfect storm of geopolitics upheaval, high inflation, currency fluctuations and supply chain disruptions has lowered business and consumer demand for devices across the world, and is set to affect the PC market the hardest in 2022, said Ranjit Atwal, senior director analyst at Gartner.

Gartner believes that global computer shipments will drop by 9.5 per cent this year.

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc said earlier this month that the PC market was set for a slowdown after two very strong years.

The soft demand for PCs and smartphones is likely to weigh on companies from chipmakers such as Nvidia Corp to mega-cap tech firms, including Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp. The companies are expected to report second quarter earnings next month.