Worldwide PC shipments increased 32 percent year-on-year in Q1 to 69.9 million, according to preliminary results by Gartner. The market rebounded from a weak first quarter of 2020 to record the fastest year-over-year growth since Gartner began tracking the PC market in 2000.
This growth should be viewed in the context of two unique factors: comparisons against a pandemic-constrained market and the current global semiconductor shortage, the researchers said. 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.
While the research does not include Chromebooks in its traditional PC market results, Chromebook shipments grew by triple digits in the first quarter compared to a year ago, with growth primarily driven by investment among educational institutions in North America. Including Chromebooks, the total worldwide PC market grew 47 percent year-over-year.
The top three vendors in the worldwide PC market remained unchanged from the previous quarter, with Lenovo maintaining the top spot by shipments with a market share of 25.1 percent. The next companies in the classification are HP with a market share of 21.4 percent, Dell with 16.5 percent, Apple with 8.0 percent, Acer with 5.7 percent, and Asus with 5.4 percent. Other manufacturers' combined market share was 17.9 percent.
Apple recorded the highest year-on-year increase in terms of shipped units, 48.6 percent, followed by Lenovo with 42.3 percent, Asus with 39.7 percent, Acer with 36.6 percent, HP with 34.6 percent, and Dell with 12.9 percent. Other manufacturers' shipments grew 26.4 percent. All of the top six vendors experienced double-digit growth, and all, except Dell, gained market share compared to a year ago.
