Even with lockdowns easing and employees steadily heading back to office spaces and leaving their remote stations at home, PC sales show no signs of slowing.
IDC, the market intelligence firm, predicts that shipments of traditional PCs, including desktops, notebooks, and workstations, will reach 96 million units in 2021 in the EMEA region, accounting for a 13.2% increase compared to the previous year.
Ultraslim notebooks will dominate the market with 44.3% of sales, followed by traditional notebooks and traditional desktops with 26% and 18.1% respectfully.
An interesting trend
Such news is noteworthy, given that 2020 was a record year for PC sales, as consumers and employers rushed to get new hardware to keep work and play going as countries went into lockdown.
IDC previously found that remote work and online learning last year drove consumer demand for PCs to the highest levels not seen in a decade. Shipments reached over 302 million units globally in 2020, a 13.1% growth, compared to 2019. It is, therefore, a significant turn of events that demand is not going down, even 18 months after the pandemic started.
The changing nature of what we need
PC shipments for consumers increased sharply this year, as users looked for entertainment online during the lockdown. The demand was reflected in consumer desktop sales growth, as gaming enthusiasts get powerful enough machines.
In Q2 2021, IDC expects consumer demand for desktops to go down (by less than 2%) in Western Europe as the end of lockdowns reduces interest in indoor entertainment options (gaming).
Consumer demand should go down as most of the things we didn’t need PCs for go back to normal. However, there are notable differences across markets, which are detailed in the IDC report.