The 2020 PC market saw its steepest decline since 2013.
Demand has increased due to the rise of remote work and education.
Logistics issues arise due to lockdown measures implemented by each government.


Demand for PCs is increasing due to increased remote work and education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but shipments are falling short.

On the 14th, Gartner announced the preliminary results of its survey on global PC shipments in the first quarter of 2020.

Global PC shipments in the first quarter of 2020 totaled 51.6 million units, a 12.3% decrease from the same period last year. The global PC market, which had shown growth for three consecutive quarters, recorded its sharpest decline since 2013 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“COVID-19 has disrupted PC supply and demand globally,” said Mikako Kitagawa, senior research analyst at Gartner. “Following the first lockdown in China at the end of January, PC production decreased in February, leading to logistics issues.”

As COVID-19 lockdowns spread across the globe, demand for PCs for remote work and online classes surged, but PC manufacturers struggled to keep up.

“This quarter’s vendor shipment results reflect the decline in PC spending by small and medium-sized businesses due to increased economic uncertainty,” Kitagawa said. “Businesses and consumers are extending the life cycles of their existing PCs as they focus on conserving cash.”


PC Big 3 market share remains unchanged
Despite the impact of COVID-19, the market share of the top three companies remained unchanged from the previous quarter. Lenovo, HP, and Dell accounted for 65.6% of PC shipments in the first quarter of 2020, slightly exceeding the 60% they accounted for in the same period last year.

Lenovo maintained its top position in the global PC market, but its shipments declined 3.2% in the first quarter of 2020 and 22.6% in the Asia Pacific region compared to the same period last year.

HP, which had enjoyed three consecutive quarters of growth, suffered a difficult first quarter, with shipments declining 12.1%. HP recorded double-digit shipment declines in all major regions, with desktop PCs in the Asia Pacific and Japan markets taking the biggest hit.

Dell was the only company to achieve a 2.2% year-over-year shipment increase despite the impact of COVID-19. Dell's shipments increased in all regions except Asia Pacific in the first quarter of 2020, with particularly notable growth in the Americas, where commercial PC demand remained relatively stable until March. The first quarter of 2020 marked Dell's ninth consecutive quarter of shipment growth.


Regional shipments continue to decline due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
PC shipments varied by region depending on the timing of each local government's COVID-19 response.

The impact of COVID-19 was most pronounced in the US in the latter half of the first quarter of 2020, so the US PC market actually grew by 0.8%. However, PC shipments showed a steep decline of 30.2% compared to the previous quarter. Dell and HP swapped positions in the US market based on shipments, with Dell barely surpassing 31% of the PC market share.

The Asia Pacific region saw its worst year-over-year decline since Gartner began tracking the PC market, with a 27.1% year-over-year decline. PC shipments in the region totaled 14.8 million units in the first quarter of 2020, compared to 20.4 million units in the same period last year.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in China in February, which halted all business, government, and consumer activities, was the biggest factor in the decline in shipments.

Overall PC shipments in China fell by more than 30% compared to a year ago. Desktops, the primary commercial PC type for government and educational institutions, saw the largest decline, dropping by nearly 40%. Mobile PCs showed a mild decline, with a 20% decrease due to remote workers and e-learning students.

PC shipments in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region fell 7% year-over-year to 16.8 million units and are expected to continue declining through 2020. Commercial and consumer PC purchases plummeted in the late first quarter as COVID-19 lockdowns were implemented in several countries across the region.

These results are preliminary and final statistics will be available soon to clients of Gartner's Worldwide Quarterly PC Statistics program in each region.