Tariff anxiety boosted first-quarter personal computer shipments, Canalys says

Global shipments of personal computers rose 9.4% in the first quarter of this year as PC makers boosted consignments to the United States in anticipation of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, research firm Canalys said on Wednesday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

As higher tariffs on more countries across the globe take effect, both direct and indirect impacts could dampen a recovery in the PC market for the remainder of the year, Canalys said.

PC providers such as Dell and Apple, and chipmakers like Intel, AMD and Qualcomm were relying on demand resurgence for PCs at the back of a Windows refresh cycle and the addition of AI features to drive sales.

KEY QUOTES

Pulling in shipments to the first quarter in anticipation of tariffs "allowed manufacturers and the channel to stock up ahead of potential cost increases, boosting sell-in shipments despite otherwise stable end-user demand," said Ishan Dutt, principal analyst at Canalys.

"Subsequent quarters this year are likely to see a slowdown as inventory levels normalize and customers face higher prices."

CONTEXT

Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs, a key feature of his economic policy that has unsettled financial markets this year, came into effect earlier on Wednesday, including massive 104% duties on Chinese goods.

The impact of tariffs on consumer demand is expected to be greater, as buying a more expensive PC will need to be prioritized against other spending categories also seeing price increases, Canalys said.

BY THE NUMBERS

Total shipments of desktops, notebooks and workstations grew 9.4% to 62.7 million units in the March quarter of 2025.

Lenovo and HP grew shipments to the U.S. in the quarter by around 20% and 13%, respectively.

By the end of 2025, most major PC vendors are expected to have moved U.S.-bound shipments out of China to mitigate the impact of tariffs, Canalys said.

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(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)