The longevity of the pandemic is testing tech industry truisms. For years, critics wrote off personal computers as a mature market in terminal decline. Mobiles became indispensable, forcing companies to prioritise smartphone content. But the unexpected and sustained shift to remote working has triggered a PC revival. Shipments reached 341m in 2021 — a near decade high.
A global upgrade in home office equipment caused a 15 per cent rise in PC sales on the previous year, according to data from Canalys. Lenovo, HP and Dell dominate. But Apple, which has less than a tenth of the market, has experienced the most growth, with sales up 28 per cent last year. In the last fiscal year, Apple reported that Mac personal computers were the second-fastest growing line of products by revenue — contributing to a record quarter for sales.
The PC revival has been good for Microsoft, with Windows-enabled PCs leading demand. Chipmaker AMD, which has been steadily increasing its share of the PC chip market, has benefited, too.
But do not expect the uptick to change the tech sector’s priorities. PC sales slowed in the second half of the year. Some of this can be attributed to the global chip shortage and supply chain bottlenecks, which left suppliers out of stock. Stifled demand may feed through to 2022 as component shortages ease.
But the PC revival is not sustainable, even if hybrid working arrangements endure. Two years is enough time for home workers to upgrade their kit, meaning the pandemic-driven surge will stall. Innovations such as foldable screens are not daring enough to create a new pool of buyers.
Sales of mobile phones still dominate. Canalys reported that in the first quarter of last year alone, smartphone shipments outnumbered 2021’s total for PC sales. PCs are not subject to the same wear and tear. Because they last longer, frequent repeat purchases will not drive sales. The pandemic era boom will not last much longer.
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