PC deliveries increased for the second quarter in a row due to teleworking
PC shipments increased by 3.6 to 14.6 percent in the third quarter of 2020, say three different research firms. Acer in particular benefits from the increase, although Lenovo continues to sell the most in absolute terms.
Research firm Canalys writes that global PC shipments in the third quarter increased by 12.7 percent from a year earlier. According to the company, this is the highest increase in ten years. This is partly due to laptops, of which 64.6 million units were delivered in the past quarter. The number of desktops and workstations delivered fell by 26 percent. Just like the second quarter, the increase in home working is cited as the main reason for the increase in the number of PC deliveries. Companies would invest more and more people and companies in working from home in the long term.
The frontrunner remains with Canalys Lenovo, with 19,270,000 PCs delivered. This means it controls almost a quarter of the market. Then comes HP, with 18,660,000 PCs delivered. The biggest riser is according to Canalys Acer, with 15 percent more deliveries compared to the third quarter of 2019. Acer delivered 5,638,000 PCs in the past quarter. The only descender on the Canalys list is Dell, which managed to deliver half a percent fewer PCs.
| 19,270 | 24.3% | 11.4% |
| 18,660 | 23.6% | 11.9% |
| 11,989 | 15.1% | -0.5% |
| 6372 | 8.1% | 13.2% |
| 5638 | 7.1% | 15% |
| 17,277 | 21.8% | 25.8% |
| 79,207 | 100% | 12.7% |
IDC reports the largest increase in the number of PCs delivered, at 14.6 percent. According to the agency, the increase could have been even higher were it not for the fact that there were component shortages. Among other things, there was a shortage of processors and panels. IDC does not expect these shortages to be resolved quickly and thinks that suppliers will have a backlog until 2021. What is striking about the IDC figures is that Apple has made the most profit, according to the agency, with an increase of 38.9 percent to 6.89 million deliveries.
| 19,272 | 23.7% | 11.3% |
| 18,690 | 23% | 11.2% |
| 11,996 | 14.8% | -0.8% |
| 6890 | 8.5% | 38.9% |
| 6005 | 7.4% | 29.3% |
| 18,419 | 22.7% | 29.3% |
| 81,272 | 100% | 14.6% |
Gartner records the smallest increase in the number of PCs delivered, at 3.6 percent. The agency does say it has seen the greatest demand for consumer PCs in five years. According to Gartner, this demand has led to delivery problems when it comes to panels, among other things, as IDC also describes. Companies were a bit more cautious in the third quarter, says Gartner, although many PCs were still bought to be able to work from home. While Chromebooks aren’t included in Gartner’s PC numbers, the company noted that shipments of these are up about 90 percent in a year.
What is striking about the Gartner figures is that the difference between the leader Lenovo and HP is greater than at the other research firms. At Gartner it is more than four percentage points, while the difference is not even one percentage point at the other agencies. Furthermore, Dell has shrunk more, according to Gartner, shrinking by nearly five percent.
| 18,310 | 25.7% | 8.3% |
| 15,447 | 21.6% | 0.7% |
| 10,827 | 15.2% | -4.6% |
| 5513 | 7.7% | 7.3% |
| 5085 | 7.1% | 29.5% |
| 4747 | 6.7% | 12.9% |
| 11,448 | 16% | -4.7% |
| 71,377 | 100% | 3.6% |
The difference in the figures of the three research agencies is partly due to a difference in definitions. For example, Gartner understands PCs to be desktops, notebooks and devices such as the Microsoft Surface. Devices such as Chromebooks and iPads are not PCs, according to the agency. Canalys doesn’t call tablets PCs, but Chromebooks do. IDC sees PCs as desktops, notebooks and workstations, but not tablets and servers. In addition, the three offices are concerned with preliminary results.