Customers looking for laptops at a Best Buy in Los Angeles.
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Many people and businesses are still buying computers, which magnifies a boom that began last year during the Covid-19 pandemic because people needed computers to work from home or go to school.
PC shipments to retailers and other vendors increased 32% in the first quarter of 2021 from the same quarter in 2020, according to a new Gartner estimate. The research firm said it was the highest computer growth rate it has followed since 2000, estimating that 69.9 million laptops and desktops were shipped in the quarter.
Computer shipments dropped sharply in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic before being taken up later in the year, making for an easy comparison. But the boom is also absolutely true: according to Gartner, total PC shipments were also the highest since 2015, when they totaled 71.7 million.
Gartner’s statistics do not include Chromebooks, which are inexpensive laptops that are a browser operating system designed by Google and popular with schools. Including Chromebooks, Gartner estimates that the computer market grew by 47% during the quarter.
According to Monday’s report, computer sales are historically strong at the moment and the rise of PCs from home may not end as offices are reminiscent of more workers and students going back to school. The statistics also indicate that during the global shortage of semiconductors, computers will still need many new chips and other components.
“We believe that the demand for computers will remain strong at least this year, especially in the first half of this year. The question is how strong it will be in the second half of this year to next year,” said researcher Mikako Kitagawa of Gartner, told CNBC.
The first quarter is usually a slow time for computer sales, especially compared to the holiday quarter.
Kitagawa said the results for this quarter might have been even stronger had it not been for a worldwide shortage of chips and other supply chain problems, forcing some computer vendors to say they will ship computers months later than usual.
“The supply chain was completely disrupted one year ago and the supply chain is currently being disrupted due to a global shortage of semiconductors,” Kitagawa said.
According to the report, Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple, Acer and Asus are the leading computer manufacturers.
Other sales estimates also point to a hot PC market during the period: Canalys estimates that the PC market grew by 55% during the quarter, and IDC also grew 55%.