If you’re puzzled as to why Apple is halting the production of its M2 chip temporarily, IDC has an answer with its 2023 Q1 report. In its latest report, IDC indicates that poor demand and excess inventory led to another round of drops in PC shipments for Q1 0f 2023, with Apple being the most affected at an annual growth of -40.5%.

The top 5 PC brands in terms of market share remain the same, with Lenovo still in the lead at 22.4% market share in Q1 2023. All five brands–which include HP, Dell, and ASUS-experienced negative annual growth, with the overall annual growth for PC shipments declining at 29%.

IDC’s latest report represented what appears to be an end of COVID-driven demand, as the majority of the world is returning to pre-COVID conditions. “Even with heavy discounting, channels, and PC makers can expect elevated inventory to persist into the middle of the year and potentially into the third quarter,” IDC Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers Jitesh Ubrani said.

Because of a slowdown in growth, the supply chain is looking to make changes that include alternative production options outside of China, along with PC brands revising their plans for the remainder of 2023.

Things are not all that bad: IDC predicts that there will be a return to growth by the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024 as most users will start considering upgrading to Windows 11.