New industry estimates show that PC shipments fell sharply during the first quarter in 2022. It suggests that the PC boom is ending.

Gartner reported Monday that PC shipment fell 7.3% to 77.5million units annually. This was primarily due to a sharp drop in Chromebook sales. Google Chromebooks, which are inexpensive laptops that can be used in schools with a Google OS operating system, have become very popular.

It is a stark contrast to the soaring pace of industry sales growth in 2021, when shipment figures declined during the first quarter.

Sales of PCs rose fastest growth in 20 yearsThe first quarter of 2021 saw consumers and businesses purchase new laptops, desktops and computers for learning and remote work. In 2021, PC sales grew about 15%After nearly a decade with little or no growth, the economy is now back to 2012 levels.

A number of other reports released on Monday indicated a similar decline. IDC predicted a drop of 5.1% to 80.5 million shipped units. Canalys reported a 3.3% decline in shipment volume during the first 3 months of 2022. However, it still believes that overall PC revenues grew. Gartner stated that the PC market increased 3.3% per year, except for Chromebooks.

Due to shortages of components for desktops and laptops, the industry was faced with challenges. a global chip shortageDuring the PC boom. During the invasion of Ukraine, PC vendors also stopped selling new computers to Russia.

The pandemic has created new sales levels for companies that make PCs or other key components like processors. for the industryHowever, some analysts warn that there is evidence of growth could drastically slowBecause so many have purchased computers, it is no surprise.

Lenovo, HP, Dell, AppleAccording to Gartner, Acer, Asus and Asus were the top six PC manufacturers in terms of units shipped during the first quarter.