
Worldwide PC sales strongest growth in 20 years
PC sales in the first quarter this year noted fastest growth in two decades. Worldwide PC shipments totaled 69.9 million units in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 32% from the first quarter of 2020, according to preliminary results by research firm Gartner. The company’s statistics do not include Chromebooks in its traditional PC market results. Chromebooks included growth was 47%. Chromebook shipments grew by triple digits in the first quarter of 2021, compared to a year ago, with growth primarily driven by investment among educational institutions in North America.
People are working from home and sales are recovering from the first quarter last year when it was hit by the emerging pandemic.
“This growth should be viewed in the context of two unique factors: comparisons against a pandemic-constrained market and the current global semiconductor shortage,” said Mikako Kitagawa, research director at Gartner.
“Semiconductor shortages are now adversely affecting the supply chain once again, with shipment lead times for some PCs extending to as long as four months.
STRONG DEMAND CONTINUES
“While this may lead to lower shipment numbers, it is still reasonable to conclude that PC demand could remain strong even after stay-home restrictions ease. Moving forward, vendors and suppliers will be closely balancing the need to meet underlying demand without creating excess inventory.”
The top three vendors in the worldwide PC market remained unchanged from the previous quarter, with Lenovo maintaining the top spot by shipments followed by HP, Dell, Apple, Acer and ASUS. All of the top six vendors experienced double-digit growth, and all, except Dell, gained market share compared to a year ago.
Lenovo recorded a 42.3% year-over-year growth, the highest among the among top six vendors.
The US market grew 24.1% compared to a year ago. EMEA PC market was in line with worldwide growth trends, experiencing 30.9% year-over-year growth. Asia Pacific PC market saw strong double-digit growth (37.6%) in the first quarter of 2021.
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