Canalys: PC shipments record highest full-year growth since 2010

Shipments surged 25 per cent in the final quarter of last year

Total PC shipments for 2020 grew 11 per cent to record the highest full-year growth since 2010 according to Canalys.

In total 297 million units were shipped last year compared to 267.5 million in 2019.

The growth has come as a direct result of people moving to remote working as the global coronavirus pandemic has enforced nations to lock down.

In the final quarter alone, 90.3 million units were sold which was up 25 per cent the previous year.

Canalys put the strong end to 2020 down to an ongoing strong demand in the holiday season. It also represented the third quarter in a row of sequential growth.

Lenovo led the way for the year for total shipments with 72.6 million and 24.5pc market share.

HP closely followed with 67.5 million units and 22.8pc market share, with Dell, Apple and Acer completing the top five selling vendors.

Here to stay 

Canalys research director Rushabh Doshi is full of praise for the industry and its commitment to keeping people connected during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We would be in a very different position had it not been for the commitment of the PC industry, including the vendors, the supply chain and the distribution channel, to make sure that every bit of market demand was met.

“As the world readies itself to get vaccinated and overcome the COVID-19 virus, it is important to remember that PCs have played a vital role at every stage of this fight, from understanding the virus and synthesizing the vaccine, to social monitoring and vaccine roll-out. It is going to be extremely difficult to write off the PC as some of us did a few years ago. PCs are here to stay.”