PC Demand Remained Strong in the Second Quarter Amid Early Signs That Market Conditions May Be Cooling, According to IDC
NEEDHAM, Mass. – The surge in PC demand continued through the second quarter of 2021 (2Q21) despite global component shortages and logistics issues. Worldwide shipments of Traditional PCs, inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations, reached 83.6 million units in 2Q21, up 13.2% from the second quarter of 2020, according to preliminary results from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. Elevated demand for PCs combined with shortages that greatly impacted the supply of notebooks led to desktop growth outpacing that of notebooks during the quarter.
“The PC market’s hot streak continued to drive heavy investments from the supply side including the entry of new vendors as well as additional spend from underdogs,” said Jitesh Ubrani research manager for IDC’s Mobile and Consumer Device Trackers. “And while the top 5 continue to drive volume, the smaller vendors have helped drive growth by offering unique features or niche designs.”
Though annual growth remains quite high, it has begun to taper off as the 13% growth rate in 2Q21 is far lower than the 55.9% growth in 1Q21 and 25.8% growth in 4Q20. “The market faces mixed signals as far as demand is concerned,” said Neha Mahajan, senior research analyst with IDC’s Devices and Displays Group. “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.”
| Top 5 Companies, Worldwide Traditional PC Shipments, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q2 2021 (Preliminary results, shipments are in thousands of units) | |||||
| Company | 2Q21 Shipments | 2Q21 Market Share | 2Q20 Shipments | 2Q20 Market Share | 2Q21/2Q20 Growth |
| 1. Lenovo | 20,005 | 23.9% | 17,407 | 23.6% | 14.9% |
| 2. HP Inc. | 18,594 | 22.2% | 18,104 | 24.5% | 2.7% |
| 3. Dell Technologies | 13,976 | 16.7% | 12,010 | 16.3% | 16.4% |
| 4T. Apple* | 6,156 | 7.4% | 5,630 | 7.6% | 9.4% |
| 4T. Acer Group* | 6,088 | 7.3% | 5,177 | 7.0% | 17.6% |
| Others | 18,795 | 22.5% | 15,551 | 21.0% | 20.9% |
| Total | 83,614 | 100.0% | 73,879 | 100.0% | 13.2% |
| Source: IDC Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, July 12, 2021 | |||||
Notes:
* IDC declares a statistical tie in the worldwide Traditional PC market when there is a difference of one tenth of one percent (0.1%) or less in the shipment shares among two or more vendors.
• Some IDC estimates prior to financial earnings reports. Data for all companies are reported for calendar periods.
- Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the company/brand under which they are sold.
- Traditional PCs include Desktops, Notebooks, and Workstations and do not include Tablets or x86 Servers. Detachable Tablets and Slate Tablets are part of the Personal Computing Device Tracker but are not addressed in this press release.
IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker gathers detailed market data in over 90 countries. The research includes historical and forecast trend analysis among other data.
