PC shipments have dropped drastically since 2011, marking a change of pace as consumers began to adopt Macbooks or rid themselves of laptops altogether. Now, after decreasing by almost 30% since the current peak, sales are settling below 2007 levels.
As this chart from Statista shows, 2017 marked the sixth year of decline for PC sales and the stagnation is expected to last through 2020, according to estimates from market research firm Gartner. This year’s slight decline is attributed to an undersupply of chips that will drive up PC prices, but in 2020 – when Microsoft removes support for Windows 7 – businesses will be forced to reinvest in hardware, offsetting that difference by just enough.