Consumer and commercial segments responded strongly to government assistance, pushing 27% year-on-year growth for the industry
As families around the world struggled to stay productive in work and school during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic hardship was buoyed by government assistance. Consumers, commercial clients, and schools scrambled to purchase mobile productivity devices once thought to be redundant, driving 27% year-on-year growth for notebook shipments, according to Strategy Analytics’ latest report.
Now up for debate is whether demand from the back-to-school and holiday seasons were pulled forward due to the pandemic or if this just the beginning of a new growth era for Notebook PCs.
Chirag Upadhyay, Senior Research Analyst said, “The main reason for all vendors’ success in improving supply chain demand is by working closely with the channel and retail partners. Most vendors started the quarter by delivering panic buy/backlog orders which were held back in March due to the lockdown imposed on the majority of the countries. However, as the quarter progressed, all the vendors managed to fulfil customers’ requirements on time by working closely with channel partners (including retail) to deliver products more efficiently and in a timely manner.”
He continued, “There is definitely a risk of prolonged economic hardship and a downturn in demand in countries still dealing with the first wave of infections, but this pessimism could spread quickly if more countries enter the second wave of infections like Japan, Hong Kong, Australia.”
Eric Smith, Director – Connected Computing added, “The biggest surprise of the quarter was the robust demand generated from consumers buying their own devices for work, studying, and play despite tough economic headwinds. Gaming proved to be an effective distraction in a physically isolated world.
Chromebooks, in particular, experienced high demand from schools and consumers to support e-learning efforts. How these behaviours develop during and after the pandemic will be closely studied to determine the direction of the notebook market long-term.”
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Exhibit 1: Lenovo and HP Combined to Control 50% of Notebook PC Market1
1 All figures are rounded
