PC shipments up 13% in Q3; breaks 10-year record: Report

The global PC market climbed 12.7 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in Q3 2020, according to recently released data by technology analyst firm Canalys.

PC shipments reached 79.2 million units in Q3 2020; the growth is largely attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is the highest growth the market has seen in the past 10 years. After a weak Q1, the recovery in Q2 continued into Q3 this year, and it even grew on top of a strong market the previous year,” said Canalys.

Growth led by notebooks, mobile workstations

In terms of devices, the growth was largely attributed to notebooks and mobile workstations. Global notebook shipments clocked in at 64 million units. Notebooks and mobile workstations shipments grew 28.3 per cent y-o-y. However, desktop and desktop workstations witnessed a decline in shipments by 26 per cent.

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“Vendors, the supply chain, and the channel have now had time to find their feet and allocate resources towards supplying notebooks, which continue to see massive demand from both businesses and consumers,” said Ishan Dutt, Canalys Analyst.

“After prioritising high-value markets and large customers in Q2, vendors have now been able to turn their attention to supplying a wider range of countries as well as SMBs that faced difficulty securing devices earlier this year,” Dutt added.

Dutt further highlighted the role that government intervention has played in market growth.

“Governments, which have realised the importance of PC access in maintaining economic activity during this time, have intervened with financial support or even full-scale device deployments. This has been especially critical in the education space, with school terms commencing in Q3 without the possibility of on-premises learning in many markets. Canalys expects IT expenditure, including investment in PCs, to be a core driver of economic recoveries in the aftermath of the pandemic,” Dutt said.

The way ahead

The PC market was led by Lenovo in Q3 with growth of 11.4 per cent at 19 million units shipped, followed by HP, which shipped 18.7 million units, a growth of 11.9 per cent. Dell gained the third spot in the market with a minor decline of 0.5 per cent in shipments, as per the report. Apple and Acer reported a growth of 13.2 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

“The lasting effects of this pandemic on the way people work, learn and collaborate will create significant opportunities for PC vendors in the coming years,” said Rushabh Doshi, Canalys Research Director.

Also read: Tablet market posts 23% sequential growth in Q2 2020, says CMR report

Differentiation in product portfolios to capture key segments such as education and mainstream gaming will also provide pockets of growth.

“And beyond the PC itself, there will be an increased need for collaboration accessories, new services, subscription packages and a strong focus on endpoint security. These trends will most benefit vendors who provide holistic solutions that enable their customers to make structural changes to their operations,” Doshi further said.

“Although the focus has been on commercial PC demand in the last two quarters, consumer spending during the holiday season is set to bring more joy to the PC market,” he added.

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