Global PC Shipments Grew in 2019 as HP Retains its Crown for the African Market

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According to recent stats by research firm, Gartner, global PC shipments rose for the first time in 7 years in 2019. The statistics show that 70.6 million units of PCs was shipped in the 4th quarter of 2019, as the entire shipments for the year totaled 261 million units.

This indicates a 0.6% year-on-year (YoY) increase when compared to the 259.7 million shipments made in 2018 and 2.3% QoQ from Q4 2018 shipments of 69 million.

Note: Devices sampled are PCs, notebook PCs and ultramobile premiums.

According to the report, the 2019 uptick can be associated with the demand for Windows 10 upgrades by many businesses. For long many PC users have been indifferent about changing their PCs. But with Microsoft ending support for Windows 7, many businesses have been forced to upgrade their devices, particularly in the US, EMEA and Japan.

Interestingly, this trend is set to continue as Gartner expects more businesses to catch on the train.

“We expect this growth to continue through this year even after Windows 7 support comes to an end this month, as many businesses in emerging regions such as China, Eurasia and the emerging Asia/Pacific have not yet upgraded.”

Mikako Kitagawa, Senior Principal Analyst, Gartner.

Lenovo Remains the Most Shipped Brand Globally as HP Continues to Rule Africa

On the global front, Lenovo maintained its pole position in the worldwide PC market, further increasing the gap between it and the second placed maker, HP Inc. According to the report, Lenovo shipped a total of 62.9 million units in 2019 with a market share of 24.1%. It also recorded YoY growth in all the regions of the world except Asia/Pacific.

Global PC Shipments Grew by in 2019 as HP Retains its Crown for the African Market
Global PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2019.

Second placed HP Inc. also experienced YoY growth for its third straight quarter as it keeps its top position in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), U.S, and Latin America. It is however facing aggressive competition from Lenovo and Dell.

In all, over 57 million units of HP Inc. PCs were shipped in 2019, earning it a market share of 22.2%.

Dell comes third on the global ranking with 43 million units shipped in 2019 and a market share of 16.8%.

In all the top 3 vendors accounted for 63.1% of the total shipments for the year with a combined global shipment of 171.8 million.

Beyond the top 3 vendors, every other vendor on the top list experienced a decline in shipments. This includes Apple which had 0.9% decrease from its 2018 value (7.1% market share in 2018 to 7.0% in 2019).

The last 4 vendors on the list for 2019.

Moving forward, Gartner predicts a continuous decline in the consumer PC market over the next five years. While business PC which has led to unit growth in five of the last seven quarters, will continue to rise. More innovations from PC makers, like the foldable laptop, is also expected to help the space maintain stable growth in terms of shipment.


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