Gartner: Q2 saw PC shipments increase

STAMFORD — Worldwide PC shipments bounced back in the second quarter after the coronavirus crisis prompted a plunge at the beginning of the year, according to a report released this week by Stamford-based consulting and research firm Gartner.

Global PC shipments totaled nearly

65 million units, up 3 percent year over year.

Contrasting with a 12 percent slide in the first quarter that marked the sharpest decline since 2013, the past three months reflected distributors’ and retailers’ restocking back to near-normal levels and increasing mobile

PC demand.

“The second quarter of 2020 represented a short-term recovery for the worldwide PC market, led by exceptionally strong growth” in Europe, the

Middle East and Africa, Mikako Kitagawa, research director at Gartner, said in a statement.

Uses such as remote working, online education and entertainment drove demand for mobile PCs.

“However, this uptick in mobile PC demand will not continue beyond 2020, as shipments were mainly boosted by shortterm business needs due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kitagawa said.

Lenovo and HP shared the No. 1 position, as they each shipped about 16.2 million PCs. Together, they accounted for half of PC shipments in that period.

Lenovo was boosted by double-digit

“Strong mobile PC demand in the U.S. was driven by shelter in place rules ... While some states eased restrictions during the second quarter of 2020, many businesses continued to prepare for a potential resurgence of the virus, resulting in strong demand for mobile PCs as a precautionary measure.”

Mikako Kitagawa, Gartner research director

growth in the EMEA regions and more than 50 percent growth in mobile PC shipments. After a major drop in the first quarter due to supply-chain limits, HP recovered with particularly strong growth in EMEA and the U.S.

Dell’s worldwide shipments decreased slightly, its first yearover-year decline since the first quarter of 2016.

The U.S. PC market grew 3.5 percent year over year, recording its fifth-straight quarter of growth. Double-digit mobile PC growth was offset by a 44 percent drop in desk-based PCs.

In the U.S., HP led with a 33 percent market share. Dell followed with a 26 percent share.

“Strong mobile PC demand in the U.S. was driven by shelter in place rules enforced as a response to the COVID-19 outbreak,” Kitagawa said. “While some states eased restrictions during the second quarter of 2020, many businesses continued to prepare for a potential resurgence of the virus, resulting in strong demand for mobile PCs as a precautionary measure.”