Thanks to the pandemic, and the need to work from home, shipments for PCs soared in 2020 to levels not seen in a decade. However, there’s growing signs the demand may be softening.
In 2021’s second quarter, PC shipments reached 83.6 million units for a 13.2% year-over-year increase, according to the research firm IDC.
The 13.2% increase is certainly a positive sign for the PC industry, which had previously stagnated for years on the smartphone’s popularity. However, IDC points out the same figure is down from the 55% year-over-year growth PC shipments saw in 2021’s first quarter.
It’s also a decline from the 25.8% growth rate the PC market experienced in last year’s Q4, during the holiday season, when vendors shipped 91.6 million units.
“There are also early indicators of consumer demand slowing down as people shift spending priorities after nearly a year of aggressive PC buying,” added IDC analyst Neha Mahajan.
Still, the latest shipment numbers from IDC arrive as the PC industry has also been facing supply shortages for graphics cards, and laptop components. So it’s likely vendors would’ve shipped out more product in Q2, if not for limited manufacturing capacity.
Interestingly, IDC notes the shortages were bad enough to cause the shipment growth for desktop PCs to outpace laptops in Q2.
And while the demand for consumers PCs may decline, it’s possible sales for enterprise-focused laptops and desktops will remain strong in the coming months. “With businesses opening back up, demand potential in the commercial segment appears promising,” Mahajan said.
Meanwhile, a separate research firm, Canalys, has forecasted growth for PC shipments will fall in 2021, due to the ongoing supply crunch. “Crucial components, such as displays, GPUs and other smaller chips that drive PC internals, will face a squeeze for most of 2021 and well into 2022, leaving a significant amount of demand unfulfilled,” the research firm wrote back in March. “If the industry can overcome these persistent issues, we could see higher growth levels.”