Chromebooks Lead PC Revival in 1Q21

Total worldwide PC market (including tablets) grew strongly for a fourth successive quarter, with shipments up 53.1% year on year at 122.1 million units, according to Canalys. Chromebooks and tablets continued to excel in 2021, posting 274.6% and 51.8% growth and achieving remarkable first-quarter shipment volumes of 12.0 million and 39.7 million units respectively.

Chromebook vendors have seen their businesses go from strength to strength, posting record first-quarter shipment numbers. HP topped the market yet again, with growth of 633.7% propelling it past the 4-million-unit mark. Lenovo took second place with 3.1 million units shipped, having ramped up production to help ease order backlogs from 2020. Acer, Samsung and Dell made up the rest of the top five, all shipping over 1 million units.

Almost all the top tablet vendors enjoyed continued shipment growth in 1Q21. Apple extended its lead, growing 50.3% and shipping 15.2 million units as the latest iteration of the iPad Air gained traction with consumers. Samsung maintained second place with 8.0 million units shipped, posting growth of 59.9%. Lenovo and Amazon achieved the highest levels of shipment volume growth with 133.5% and 197.9% year on year respectively, primarily due to a low 1Q20. Huawei, however, suffered a decline of 27.9%, primarily due to the breakaway of its former Honor brand into a separate entity. It still maintained a healthy lead over competitors to secure a top-five spot.

Lenovo maintained its lead in the total PC market, which includes desktops, notebooks and tablets, shipping 24.0 million units and posting growth of 66.5%. Apple came second with 22.1 million shipments of Macs and iPads. HP secured third place with 19.3 million units and 64.2% growth, leaving Dell and Samsung to make up the rest of the top five.