Sales of PC monitors break records in 2020

Worldwide growth in sales of PC monitors broke new records in 2020, as people bought new models to use at home during the lockdowns.

Analyst firm IDC found that sales rose by 8.3 per cent compared with 2019, the biggest rise ever recorded. The final quarter of the year (October to December) saw a particularly big jump of 16.9 per cent, with 39.2 million monitors sold – the highest numbers since 2011.

IDC also said that shortage in components led manufacturers to beat price rises by building stocks of monitors, meaning there were plenty of models available for sale.

Dell led the way with 19.3 per cent of sales, followed by Chinese company TPV, HP and Lenovo. However, it was Samsung who enjoyed the biggest growth, with sales rising by 30.6 per cent, taking it to a market share of 8.6 per cent.

The analysts predict that gaming and the rise of ‘hybrid’ working – where staff split their work between the home and the office – will help to keep sales of monitors high in 2021.

The rise in monitor sales is part of a huge increase in technology sales generally. In the UK alone, sales of laptops in the final quarter of 2020 rose by 91 per cent, totalling 3.5 million units.

IDC said this rise is a sign that the UK has become a ‘one device per person’ country, rather than just ‘one device per household’.

Currently, our favourite monitor is the 27in GL2780, made by Taiwanese firm Benq (see page 32), while our top laptop is Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7 (page 30).

Have you bought a new monitor or laptop in the past 12 months? Let us know: letters@computeractive. co.uk