Global shipments of personal computers (PCs) are expected to hit 143 million units in the last quarter of 2020, up 35 percent year on year, according to the latest report by technology market research firm Canalys.
This will bring total PC shipments in 2020 to 458 million units, an annual increase of 17 percent, as the need for personal computing devices for skilled workers and students remains at an unprecedented high despite significant increases in supply, the report noted.
Growth in the PC sector will spill over into 2021, with shipments in the first quarter expected to rise 43 percent year on year due to a weak basis in Q1 2020.
“Shipments for 2021 are expected to increase by 1.4 percent following an extraordinary year in 2020,” the report predicted, listing four key trends that will drive PC market growth in 2021 and beyond — remote working, digital learning, device as a service and emerging use cases.
“As vaccines start to roll out and we enter a post-COVID world, behavioral changes among both businesses and consumers will place greater emphasis on PC use, leading to a host of new opportunities not just in hardware, but also in software and services,” noted Rushabh Doshi, research director at Canalys.
Meanwhile, the greater number and broader demographics of PC users will provide a host of new opportunities, the report added.
