Global PC shipments reach 86.7 million units in Q3, up 3.9% from last year: IDC report

Amid the pandemic-related supply issues and chip shortage, the global shipments of traditional PCs (desktops, notebooks and workstations) in the third quarter (Q3) this year, which reached 86.7 million units (up 3.9 per cent from the prior year), according to a new IDC report.

This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of growth for the PC market, as the onset of the pandemic has led to a surge in demand while also contributing to component shortages and other supply challenges.

"The PC industry continues to be hampered by supply and logistical challenges and unfortunately these issues have not seen much improvement in recent months," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC's Mobile and Consumer Device Trackers.

"Given the current circumstances, we are seeing some vendors reprioritise shipments amongst various markets, allowing emerging markets to maintain growth momentum while some mature markets begin to slow," Ubrani added.

Lenovo led the third quarter with 22.8 per cent market share, followed by HP Inc with 20.3 per cent share and Dell Technologies at 17.5 per cent share.

Bottlenecked supply chains and ongoing logistic challenges led the US PC market into its first quarter of annual shipment decline since the beginning of the pandemic.

"After a year of accelerated buying driven by the shift to remote work and learning, there's also been a comparative slowdown in PC spending and that has caused some softening of the US PC market today," said Neha Mahajan, senior research analyst, Devices and Displays at IDC.

"Yet, supply clearly remains behind demand in key segments with inventory still below normal levels," Mahajan added.