Surprised by the pandemic and forced to work from home for weeks, businesses and individuals rushed all over the world on the personal computer, which was living in the shadow of mobile technology.
• Read also: Canadians support 30-hour work week
• Read also: The world of telework: building on initiatives
Figures released by Gartner and International Data Corporation (IDC) showed that deliveries of fixed stations, laptops and other workstations increased in the second quarter, once the supply chain difficulties created by the pandemic were overcome.
“The high demand due to teleworking as well as online education have exceeded expectations and have put the PC at the center of the palette of the IT consumer portfolio,” notes Jitesh Ubrani, research manager at IDC Mobile Device Trackers.
“What remains to be determined is whether demand and high usage will continue during the recession and in a post-pandemic world where school and the workplace reopen,” he said. added.
IDC estimates that worldwide PC shipments increased 11.2% to 72.3 million units in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year. Gartner sees an increase of only 2.8% to 64.8 million units.
The notable difference between the two groups is explained by the different calculation methods.
The two agencies put HP and Lenovo at the top of the charts followed by Dell.
Apple, which has its own operating system but is nevertheless retained in the PC category, comes fourth.
According to Gartner’s head of research, Mikako Kitagawa, these figures reflect a short-term recovery, part of the increase being linked to the replenishment of stocks.
Linn Huang of IDC said the movement should continue in July while stocks are replenished, but he warns “as we sink further into the global recession things should get worse”.
–
