The global traditional PC-- meaning desktop, notebooks and workstations-- market closes 2019 with "impressive" Q4 2019 growth of 4.8% Y-o-Y, IDC reports, with shipments reaching 71.8 million units, the highest for a single quarter since Q4 2015.
As for overall 2019 global shipments are up by 2.7%, marking the first full year of PC growth since 2011.
"This past year was a wild one in the PC world, which resulted in impressive market growth that ultimately ended 7 consecutive years of market contraction," the analyst says. "The market will still have its challenges ahead, but this year was a clear sign that PC demand is still there despite the continued insurgence of emerging form factors and the demand for mobile computing."
The commercial sector was the primary driver for the year as, as businesses continue to transition PCs over to Windows 10 before the January 2020 end of support for Windows 7. The continued business push specifically helped the top 3 players, namely Lenovo, HP and Dell, leading to further market consolidation as the trio takes over combined 2019 share of 65% (up from 63% in 2018). In the meantime, other market challenges declined in the quarter. The adoption of AMD CPUs helped allay concerns over CPU availability, while signs of easing trade tensions and other industry drivers helped increase market uptake on the most important quarter of the year.
However IDC does warn the next 12-18 months will remain challenging for the traditional PC market. After all, the majority of Windows 10 upgrades will be in the rearview mirror, and and concerns around component shortages and trade negotiations should get ironed out. New technologies, such as 5G and dual- and folding-screen devices can provide an uplift, but will take time to coalesce.
Moving on to the vendor rankings, Lenovo retains market leadership in Q4 2019 with 24.3% share and growth reaching 8.2% Y-o-Y through positive results in "almost" every region outside of APeJ. HP comes 2nd, with shipments growing by 4.8% in 2019 and 6.9% Y-o-Y in Q4 2019, as the company manages to navigate through CPU shortages.
Dell remains in 3rd position as it grows market share by 0.5 points over 2018, reaching 17.5% worldwide. It also records a record high for Q4 2019 shipment growth at 10.7% Y-o-Y, thanks to a robust US market and strong commercial activity. Apple Mac volumes are down by -5.3% Y-o-Y in Q4 2019 to 4.7m units, but continued momentum in the iPad and iPhone more than offsets such Mac challenges. Rounding off the top 5 is Acer with 6.1% market share for Q4 2019 and shipments dropping by -4.2%.
Go IDC WW Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker January 2020
