PCs Continued to Grow During Holiday Quarter of 2021

Worldwide shipments of Traditional PCs reached 92.7 million units during the fourth quarter of 2021 (4Q21), according to preliminary results from IDC. The growth was 1.0% over the same quarter in 2020. Total PC shipments during 2021 reached 348.8 million units, up 14.8% from 2020. This represents the highest level of shipments the PC market has seen since 2012.

"2021 has truly been a return to form for the PC," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC's Mobile and Consumer Device Trackers. "Consumer need for PCs in emerging markets and global commercial demand remained strong during the quarter with supply being a gating factor. While consumer and educational demand has tapered in some developed markets, we continue to believe the overall PC market has reset at a much higher level than before the pandemic.

"A challenging logistical environment, coupled with ongoing supply-side shortages, meant that the PC market could have been even larger than it was in 2021," according to Tom Mainelli, group vice president of IDC's Device and Consumer Research. "We closed the year with many buyers still waiting for their PC orders to ship. As we move through the first half of the year, we expect supply to remain constrained, especially with regards to the commercial segment where demand is the most robust.

Lenovo snatched first place in 4Q21 with a 23.4% market share. HP came second with 20.1%, ahead of Dell (18.6%), Apple ((8.2%), Asus (6.6%) and Acer (6.5%). During the last year, Lenovo was the most successful company with 81.9 million shipments. With 14.1% growth over 2020, Lenovo held 23.5% of the market share. HP was second with 74.1 million shipments, 9.3% more than in 2020, and with a 21.2% share. Dell came third (17% share), Apple was fourth (8% share), while Acer grabbed fifth place (6.9%).