The global PC market is expanding again, for the first time in seven years, according to preliminary data from analyst house Gartner.
Worldwide PC shipments grew 2.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019 and 0.6% for the full year, the company said on Tuesday.
Total PC shipments totalled 70.6 million units in the fourth quarter. For the year, they surpassed 261 million units.
“The PC market experienced growth for the first time since 2011, driven by vibrant business demand for Windows 10 upgrades, particularly in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea), and Japan,” said Mikako Kitagawa, senior principal analyst at Gartner, in a statement.
“We expect this growth to continue through this year even after Windows 7 support comes to an end this month as many businesses in emerging regions such as China, Eurasia and the emerging Asia/Pacific have not yet upgraded.”
The demand is coming from business users rather than retail consumers, Gartner said.
Chip shortage
However, an ongoing Intel chip shortage, which began in mid-2019, became a major issue for enterprise customers of the top three vendors, namely Lenovo, HP and Dell. “Without this shortage, shipments would have grown faster than the reported results,” Kitagawa said.
Despite these chip constraints, the top three vendors increased their combined market share in 2019 to the highest level since Gartner began tracking PC data. Lenovo, HP and Dell accounted for nearly 65% of PC shipments in the fourth quarter, up from about 61% in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Lenovo maintained its top position and widened its share over HP, which also expanded its shipments for the third quarter in a row. However, HP is facing aggressive competition from Lenovo and Dell. Dell finished the fourth quarter of 2019 with a record number of shipments, exceeding 12 million units for the first time since Gartner started tracking PC shipments.
Dell’s shipments grew year-over-year in all regions at a much higher rate compared with the regional average, due in large part to its particularly strong desktop PC growth.
PC shipments in Emea increased 3.6% year over year to 21 million units, with the fourth quarter of 2019 marking the second consecutive quarter of shipment growth as regional demand improves. — © 2020 NewsCentral Media
