Global PC shipments rise 32%, highest YOY growth since 2000: Gartner

Lenovo, HP, and Dell, who were the top three vendors in the worldwide PC market in the previous quarter, and retained their positions in Q12021.

Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments rose 32 percent in the first quarter of 2021, according to research company Gartner.

Global PC shipments stood at 69.9 million units in Q12021, as against 52.9 million units in Q12020. This is the fastest year-over-year (YOY) growth since it began tracking the PC market in 2000, said the company.

Mikako Kitagawa, the research director at Gartner, said this growth should be viewed in the context of two unique factors - comparisons against a pandemic-constrained market and the current global semiconductor shortage.

"Without the shipment chaos in early 2020, this quarter's growth may have been lower. However, semiconductor shortages are now adversely affecting the supply chain once again, with shipment lead times for some PCs extending to as long as four months," Kitagawa said.

"While this may lead to lower shipment numbers, it is still reasonable to conclude that PC demand could remain strong even after stay-home restrictions ease. Moving forward, vendors and suppliers will be closely balancing the need to meet underlying demand without creating excess inventory." he said.

Lenovo, HP, and Dell, who were the top three vendors in the worldwide PC market in the previous quarter, and retained their positions in Q12021.

Except Dell, all top six vendors saw an increase in market share in the first quarter of this year. Apple, Acer, and Asus occupied the fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively in terms of PC shipments.