Global PC shipments were down 9% year over year in the third quarter, according to , marking the eight consecutive quarter of decline. While the PC industry was riding high during the first 18 months of the pandemic as consumers and businesses snapped up new laptops, elevated demand was not the new normal. PC shipments have since sunk well below pre-pandemic levels. About 64.3 million PCs shipped in the third quarter of this year, compared to 68.1 million in the third quarter of 2019.

The good news is that the pain is almost over. PC shipments rose in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, an indication that demand is likely bottoming out and that excess inventories are being whittled down. Gartner sees PC inventories back to normal by the end of the year, assuming that holiday sales aren't unusually weak. Year-over-year shipment growth is expected to return in the fourth quarter and continue into 2024.

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has beaten back rival Advanced Micro Devices with its latest Raptor Lake chips, which feature a heterogeneous architecture with powerful cores mixed with weaker, more efficient cores. AMD's products are still plenty capable, and the company has a clear lead in gaming with its exotic 3D V-Cache chips. But Intel has been regaining market share over the past year thanks to Raptor Lake.

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Source Fool.com