Worldwide revival in market for PCs

AUCKLAND: No futurist picked it, but in 2021, personal computers are flying off shelves in record numbers.

Worldwide PC shipments grew a stunning 55% in the first quarter of this year, compared with the first quarter of 2020.

According to market tracker IDC's preliminary numbers, some 83.98 million personal computers were sold in the three months to March 31, versus 54.12 million for the yearago period.

In New Zealand, IDC is picking firstquarter growth will be a far more muted 3.3%.

The market tracker says this is in part down to a positive: the success of our Covid response means the PCupgrade pressures of remote working, online learning and days of playing Fortnite are already consigned to history for many Kiwis, and partly down to a negative: businesses being cautious with spending.

Both the first quarter of 2020 (factory closures) and the first quarter of 2021 (component shortages and global shipping logjams) were subject to virus pressures. But while the first three months of last year were flat with 2019, the first quarter of this year has broken records, with the strongest growth ever measured.

IDC's final numbers for 2020 show the New Zealand PC market had its strongest ever year as unit shipments grew 12.3% to 826,000 units.

But the comeback was not shared equally. IDC says NZ laptop sales increased 21% last year, to around 660,000, while desktops continued their longterm decline, falling 15% to around 166,000.

Before the 2020 turnaround, IDC had tracked an annual decline in PC sales every year since 2011.

Personal computers then became commoditised, as one version of Windows or Office blurred into the next, and many preferred to put their budget into upgrading their internet plan, or keeping up with the latest smartphone.

The PC makers should enjoy the golden weather while it lasts.

For 2021 as a whole, IDC is picking the local PC market will fall 5.5% as we put the pandemic behind us and return to our fascination with phones. — The New Zealand Herald