Despite component shortages the world over, sales of PCs grew in the second quarter of this year and curiously, desktop PCs are seeing something of a resurgence.
This is according to the IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker report published today.
Overall the Traditional PC market (which includes desktops, notebooks and workstations) grew 13.2 percent compared to the same quarter in 2020. In fact, across the board there have been substantial gains for brands.
For example, Lenovo saw PC shipments grow 14.9 percent over the quarter increasing its share of the market to 23.9 percent. The biggest growth, however, came from Acer which increased its share of the market to 7.3 percent and saw shipments rise by 17.6 percent compared to a year ago.
The smallest movement in IDC’s tracker was HP which only grew its shipments by 2.7 percent. We suspect that the forthcoming launch of Windows 11 may have something to do with that but that’s just us.
What we find interesting is what sorts of PCs were being purchased.
The IDC says that demand coupled with shortages that impacted the supply of notebooks lead to more desktop PCs being purchased this quarter. Will this trend continue? It might but perhaps not in the consumer segment of the market.
“The market faces mixed signals as far as demand is concerned,” explains senior research analyst at the IDC’s Device and Displays Group, Neha Mahajan.
“With businesses opening back up, demand potential in the commercial segment appears promising. However, there are also early indicators of consumer demand slowing down as people shift spending priorities after nearly a year of aggressive PC buying,” Mahajan adds.
We’re curious to see what happens next quarter especially with a Chinese ban on cryptomining leading to a decline in demand for GPUs from that sector. Whether this will lead to greater availability of GPUs and better affordability is a guessing game at this stage.
With more desktops in the wild now however, perhaps we will see something of a surge in demand for individual components in the next few quarters.
The results from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker report are included below.
| Company | 2Q21 Shipments | 2Q21 Market Share | 2Q20 Shipments | 2Q20 Market Share | 2Q21/2Q20 Growth |
| 1. Lenovo | 20,005 | 23.90% | 17,407 | 23.60% | 14.90% |
| 2. HP Inc. | 18,594 | 22.20% | 18,104 | 24.50% | 2.70% |
| 3. Dell Technologies | 13,976 | 16.70% | 12,010 | 16.30% | 16.40% |
| 4T. Apple* | 6,156 | 7.40% | 5,630 | 7.60% | 9.40% |
| 4T. Acer Group* | 6,088 | 7.30% | 5,177 | 7.00% | 17.60% |
| Others | 18,795 | 22.50% | 15,551 | 21.00% | 20.90% |
| Total | 83,614 | 100.00% | 73,879 | 100.00% | 13.20% |
| Source: IDC Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, July 12, 2021 | |||||
[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]
