Data from Gartner and IDC shows that PC sales jumped over 7 percent in the second quarter of 2020 thanks to COVID-based work from home requirements.
Overall, PC makers sold 68.55 million units in the second quarter of 2020, using an average of the numbers provided by the two firms, compared to 64 million units in the same quarter one year ago. The bad news? It’s just a temporary bump, or what Gartner calls a “short-term recovery.”
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“Mobile PC growth was particularly strong, driven by several factors including business continuity for remote working, online education, and consumers’ entertainment needs,” Gartner researcher Mikako Kitagawa said. “However, this uptick in mobile PC demand will not continue beyond 2020, as shipments were mainly boosted by short-term business needs due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Early indicators suggest strong PC shipments for education, enterprise, and consumer, muted somewhat by frozen SMBs,” IDC research vice president Linn Huang concurred. “With inventory still back-ordered, this goodwill will continue into July. However, as we head deeper into a global recession, the goodwill sentiment will increasingly sour.”
Lenovo was the world’s largest seller of PCs in the quarter, with 17.1 million units sold, compared to 16. 8 million units for HP. Dell (11.3 million units), Apple (5 million units), and Acer (4.4 million units) rounded out the top five. And since I know this of interest to readers, especially given the recent news from WWDC, Apple’s Mac platform now represents 7.29 percent of all PCs sold worldwide, a gain of 18.5 percent year-over-year.