Global PC Shipments Saw Highest Annual Growth in a Decade: Research Firms

The global PC market saw huge demand last year, with Canalys reporting that total PC shipments in 2020 grew 11 percent to reach 297 million units. Another research firm IDC reiterates the same claim, saying that this is biggest growth in a decade and the last time the PC market saw annual growth of this magnitude was in 2010 when the market grew 13.7 percent. In 2020, IDC reports an annual growth of 13.1 percent with shipments over 302 million units. Even Gartner, in its latest findings, reports that this was the highest annual growth for the worldwide PC market since 2010.

This huge surge in demand for PCs is attributed to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that forced companies to go digital and encourage remote working. Lenovo was the largest contributor to PC shipments in 2020 with Canalys reporting 72.629 million shipments recorded and an annual growth of 11.9 percent. Even IDC reported almost similar shipment figures and said that Lenovo enjoyed an annual growth of 12 percent. Gartner also agrees that Lenovo ruled the global PC segment in 2020. Canalys and IDC both claim that its market share in 2020 stands at 24.5 and 24 percent, respectively.

HP comes in second with over 67 million shipments in 2020 and a market share of a little over 22 percent (both Canalys and IDC). Dell sits in the third position (both Canalys and IDC) with more than 50 million shipments recorded and over 16 percent market share. Apple also saw huge sales in 2020 with Canalys reporting 22.592 million shipments and annual growth of 16.6 percent. Its market share grew from 7.2 percent in 2019 to 7.6 percent in 2020. IDC claims that Apple’s annual growth was the highest among other companies at 29.1 percent in 2020.

IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers program VP Ryan Reith attributes this huge rise to remote working and home learning. “Demand is pushing the PC market forward and all signs indicate this surge still has a way to go. The obvious drivers for last year’s growth centred around work from home and remote learning needs, but the strength of the consumer market should not be overlooked. We continue to see gaming PCs and monitor sales at all-time highs and Chrome-based devices are expanding beyond education into the consumer market. In retrospect, the pandemic not only fuelled PC market demand but also created opportunities that resulted in a market expansion,” Reith said.

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