Global sales of PCs had been in decline for nearly a decade when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Instead of hurting demand further, people's need to work and attend school remotely triggered a boom. PC shipments surged by 11% in 2020 and another 15% in 2021. Last year was the strongest year for PC sales since 2012, with unit shipments reaching 341 million.

This was good news for Intel (NASDAQ: INTC). Even as rival Advanced Micro Devices was winning away some of its market share, the growth of that market helped keep Intel's PC chip sales growing. But all good things eventually come to an end. 2022 is going to be a rough year for the PC industry. Some demand was pulled forward by the pandemic, and the combination of high inflation and recession fears is taking a toll on consumer spending.

Intel now predicts that its total addressable market related to PCs will decline by around 10% this year. Weakness in the consumer and education markets will be the biggest factor in this decline, though demand for commercial PCs may also take a hit later this year if businesses pull back on their tech spending.

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Source Fool.com