Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Grew 1.5 Percent in 2Q19

After two quarters of decline, the worldwide PC market grew 1.5% in the second quarter of 2019, according to preliminary results by Gartner. Shipments totaled 63 million units, up from 62 million units in 2Q18.

“Worldwide PC shipments growth was driven by demand from the Windows 10 refresh in the business market in the second quarter of 2019. Desktop PC growth was strong, which offset a decline in mobile PC shipments,“ said Mikako Kitagawa, senior principal analyst at Gartner.

“Additionally, there are signs that the Intel CPU shortage is easing, which has been an ongoing impact to the market for the past 18 months. The shortage mainly impacted small and midsize vendors as large vendors took advantage and continued to grow, taking market share away from the smaller vendors that struggled to secure CPUs.“

The ongoing trade dispute and potential imposition of tariffs adds uncertainty to the near-term outlook for PC demand. “While the U.S.-China trade war did not impact the PC market in the second quarter of 2019, the next phase of tariffs could have significant impact. Most laptops and tablets are currently manufactured in China and sales of these devices in the U.S. could face significant price increases if the punitive tariffs are imposed and vendors do not take quick action to respond,“ said Kitagawa.

The top three vendors, Lenovo, HP and Dell, accounted for 64.1% of global PC shipments, compared with 60.7% in the same quarter 2018. These top three vendors continued to gain share taking advantage of economies of scale. Intel’s CPU supply shortage in the first half of the year accelerated this trend.

Preliminary Worldwide PC Shipment Estimates for 2Q19 (Thousands of Units)

Lenovo retained the top spot in the second quarter of 2019 with the fastest year-over-year growth and the largest share gain among the top vendors. However, it is possible that its shipments reflected some anticipation of the potential tariffs.

HP’s shipments increased 2.6% versus the same period last year. Strong business PC demand boosted HP’s growth across all key regions and offset weaker mobile PC shipments.

Dell recorded its sixth consecutive quarter of PC shipment growth in the second quarter of 2019. Dell’s growth trend has been the most consistent out of the top vendors over the past three years, driven by its clear focus on where the company invests.

In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 14 million units in the second quarter of 2019, a 0.4% decline. The EMEA market returned to growth with a 1.7% increase year over year. PC shipments in Asia/Pacific declined 1% compared with a year ago, the third consecutive quarter of shipment decline for the region. Other Asia/Pacific markets showed better results as Windows 10 migration drove growth in mature countries. Latin America PC shipments experienced a 3.9% decline, which was modest compared with the previous two quarters.