PC and Tablet Market Stays Strong with 118 Million Units Shipped in 1Q22

The worldwide PC (including tablet) shipments fell just 3% annually in the first quarter of 2022, to 118.1 million units, according to Canalys. Despite this dip, shipments remain extremely strong compared with before the pandemic, with a three-year CAGR of 12% from 1Q19.

While commercial demand is healthy, the slowdown in consumer and education has taken its toll on Chromebooks and tablets, both of which suffered further shipment declines. Tablet numbers fell 3% year on year to 38.6 million units, while Chromebooks dipped to 4.9 million units, a 60% fall from their record performance in 1Q21.

Worldwide tablet shipments fell slightly, by 3%, but against what was an exceptionally strong first quarter of the previous year. Apple, in the first place, saw a 2% fall in shipments in Q1 as it shipped 14.9 million iPads worldwide. Second-placed Samsung also posted a 2% decline for a total of 7.9 million tablets shipped.

For the first time in over a year, Amazon surpassed Lenovo to take third place with a growth of 3% on the back of heavy discounting of its Fire tablets. Lenovo endured the second-biggest decline of the top five vendors, with its shipments down 20% year on year to 3 million units. Huawei rounded out the top five, with a 22% decline and 1.7 million tablets shipped globally.

Chromebook shipments fell by 60% to 4.9 million units following the category’s massive surge in the first half of 2021 when education bodies in major markets were buying devices in great numbers. The North American market, which makes up 72% of worldwide Chromebook shipments, fell by 64%. Chromebook numbers began to fall in the second half of 2021 after the US and Japan concluded their periods of education purchasing.

Lenovo topped the Chromebook market despite its shipments falling by 63% after the completion of Japan’s GIGA project, which was almost exclusively sourced from Lenovo. Acer moved to second place in the worldwide market with 1.1 million units shipped, down by 21%. Dell had the smallest decline of all vendors, partly due to its limited presence in the education segment, which has carried the majority of shipments for other vendors. HP suffered from the steepest drop in shipments at 82%. Asus rounded out the top five, with a 48% fall in shipments.

In the total PC market, Apple took first place from Lenovo as it shipped 22.3 million units, up 1% annually. Second-placed Lenovo saw a year-on-year decline of 12%, shipping 21.1 million devices worldwide. HP’s shipment of 15.9 million units placed it third as it also underwent a significant decline of 18%. Both HP and Lenovo faced a difficult comparison from a volume perspective due to their large Chromebook output in 1Q21. Dell took fourth place and benefited from the commercial demand surge, helping it achieve a healthy 6.1% growth in shipments to 13.8 million devices. Samsung rounded out the top five with 8.8 million units shipped.