I think there are several factors at play here, starting with “my current machine is good enough” and lower PC hardware sales as well as indeed, a bit of a shif

I think there are several factors at play here, starting with “my current machine is good enough” and lower PC hardware sales as well as indeed, a bit of a shift to lower-power, quieter, smaller machines, and CPU characteristics changing (with more e-cores). Example: The mini-PC market has exploded, and people buying those are neither benchmark enthusiasts nor an active part of their readership.