PC shipments shrank a considerable 29% in this year’s first quarter compared to the same time period a year ago with Apple registering a whopping 40.5% decline in its Mac sales, reads a new IDC report.

The report proclaims these numbers mark the end to “COVID-driven demand and at least a temporary return to pre-COVID patterns”. Q1 2023 shipments reportedly stood at 56.9 million units, compared to 59.2 million and 60.6 million during the same time period in 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Apple reportedly shipped 4.1 million Macs in Q1 2023 compared to 6.9 million in the year-ago quarter. The company’s market share took a small dip, declining from 8.6% to 7.2%. On the other hand, HP registered the smallest sales decline, registering a 24.2% drop from 15.8 million units to 12.0 million. HP market share grew slightly from 19.7% to 21.1%.

The report blames weak demand amid uncertainty surrounding the economy as the main force behind the reported decline. IDC expects the market to reverse trends as 2024 approaches owing to a recovering economy and Windows users seeking to upgrade to Windows 11-compatible machines.

Apple will hold its earnings call for this year’s first quarter on May 4. If IDC’s numbers prove correct, it may indicate that the new M2 Pro and M2 Max MacBook Pros and updated Mac mini aren’t selling as well as Apple might have hoped.