PC Market Rides Several Trends to Produce Solid Results in 2Q19

PC Market Rides Several Trends to Produce Solid Results in 2Q19
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Preliminary results for the global traditional PC market totaled 64.9 million units in the second quarter of 2019 (2Q19), according to IDC. Year-over-year growth during the quarter reached 4.7%, which was notably higher than expected as the easing of supply shortages combined with looming trade tensions to propel the market forward.

"Supply for Intel's processors improved markedly during the quarter, allowing most PC vendors to fulfill old orders while also shipping a healthy supply of new PCs into the channels," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC's Mobile Device Trackers. "Additionally, the threat of increased tariffs led some PC makers to ship a surplus of desktops and notebooks, thereby artificially propping up the PC market during the second quarter.

However, higher than anticipated growth was not driven solely by changes in the supply chain. "With the January 2020 end of service (EOS) date for Windows 7 approaching, the market has entered the last leg of the Windows 7 to Windows 10 commercial migrations," noted Linn Huang, research vice president, Devices & Displays. "However, the closing sprint is unlikely to generate the spike seen when Windows XP met its EOS because we are further ahead of the migration with two quarters to go. Still, organizations looking to finish their migration will create new opportunities for the market in the coming quarters.

After a sluggish start to the year, the traditional PC market in the United States seems to be back on track, recording high single-digit growth in the second quarter backed by volume increases in both desktops and notebooks. The traditional PC market in Canada posted its 12th consecutive quarter of growth. The preliminary figure is 11.0%, which is the highest year-over-year growth in nine years (since 2Q10). Japan's commercial segment maintained strong momentum in 2Q19 after an already strong first quarter.

The traditional PC market in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ) beat IDC's forecast with shipments posting modest year-on-year growth. After two consecutive quarters of year-over-year decline, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) witnessed growth in the traditional PC market in 2Q19. The Latin America market continued its negative trajectory in 2Q19, although with better results than previous expectations.

Lenovo moved into the top position, capturing 25% of the market with more than 16.2 million units shipped. HP ranked second with 3.2% year-over-year growth. Dell maintained the third position with healthy 3.1% growth during the quarter. Acer was one of the few companies that saw a decline this quarter despite having shipped additional units ahead of potential tariffs. Apple rounded out the top 5, shipping nearly 4.1 million units.

Top Companies, Worldwide Traditional PC, 2Q19 (Preliminary, shipments in thousands)

Company

2Q19 Shipments

2Q19 Share

2Q18 Shipments

2Q18 Share

YoY Growth

1. Lenovo

16,254

25.1%

13,750

22.2%

18.2%

2. HP

15,356

23.7%

14,880

24.0%

3.2%

3. Dell

11,606

17.9%

11,255

18.2%

3.1%

4. Acer

4,288

6.6%

4,363

7.0%

-1.7%

5. Apple

4,077

6.3%

3,722

6.0%

9.6%

Others

13,276

20.5%

13,961

22.5%

-4.9%

Total

64,858

100.0%

61,931

100.0%

4.7%