PC deliveries grew worldwide in Q2 2020 due to working from home
Worldwide PC deliveries have grown by 2.8 to 11.2 percent in one year, according to two research firms. The two companies attribute the growth to, among other things, the increased working from home due to the corona virus.
Gartner reports 2.8 percent growth compared to Q2 2019. According to this agency, 64.8 million PCs were shipped in Q2 2020. Lenovo and HP each controlled a quarter of the market, although Lenovo supplied just 30,000 more computers than HP. Dell is in third place, followed by Apple and just behind Acer.
According to Gartner, the second quarter saw growth due to a significant drop in the number of deliveries in the first quarter. The coronavirus has severely disrupted computer suppliers’ supply chains, preventing demand from being met. At the same time, the demand for mobile PCs in particular was strong, according to Gartner, as people work from home more and also have an extra need for entertainment. As the supply chain recovered in the second quarter, PC vendors were better able to meet higher demand. The agency does not expect this additional demand to continue beyond 2020.
| 16,197 | 25% | 4.2% |
| 16.165 | 24.9% | 17.1% |
| 10,648 | 16.4% | -.0.3% |
| 4.368 | 6.7% | 5.1% |
| 4.007 | 6.2% | 23.6% |
| 3.593 | 5.5% | 21.4% |
| 9,829 | 15.2% | -22.4% |
| 64,808 | 100% | 2.8% |
According to IDC, growth in the past quarter was much stronger, at 11.2 percent compared to the second quarter of 2019. This agency also attributes the growth to stronger demand from home working and remote learning. At the beginning of the quarter, there were still some logistical constraints, according to IDC, but later the costs and frequency of sea and air transport approached what was normal for the corona virus. This, coupled with the fact that some PC manufacturers produced more in the past quarter than before the corona virus, explains the large increase this quarter, according to the research firm.
IDC also wonders whether the high demand for computers will continue, especially as the world appears to be moving deeper and deeper into an economic recession. The largest PC vendor in the past quarter was HP, with a quarter of the market, according to IDC. Lenovo had one percentage point less here. The rest of the top five are similar to Gartner’s.
| 18,082 | 25% | 17.7% |
| 17.411 | 24.1% | 7.4% |
| 12.010 | 16.6% | 3.5% |
| 5,594 | 7.7% | 36% |
| 4.828 | 6.7% | 12.7% |
| 14,337 | 19.8% | 6.8% |
| 72.261 | 100% | 11.2% |
The difference in the figures of the two agencies is partly due to the definitions that both agencies use for PCs. At Gartner, desktops, notebooks and “ultramobile premiums” such as Microsoft Surface devices are PCs, but Chromebooks and iPads are not included. At IDC, desktops, notebooks, and workstations are PCs, but tablets and x86 servers are not considered PCs. In addition, both research bureaus emphasize that these are estimates.