Vendors that admitted to customers that there were supply shortages and encouraged flexibility were well-placed to benefit in the PC market during the first quarter (Q1).
Beancounters at Canalys had a look into the component shortages that hit the hardware industry for the past 18 months and discovered that it was not so bad for some.
An analysis of first-quarter PC shipment numbers across Western Europe from Canalys indicated that there was strong growth in the market, with desktops, notebooks and workstations hitting 16.1 million units, a 48 percent year-on-year improvement.
On the vendor front, there will be celebrations over at HP, with the vendor regaining top spot from Lenovo by shipping 4.1 million units and with a 26 percent market share, with its closest rival having four million units and 25 percent share. Dell, Apple and Acer fill out the rest of the top five.
Canalys research analyst Trang Pham said that in the first quarter several PC distributors and resellers reported strong supply of HP devices, especially for AMD models. And in cases where shipment delays were inevitable, HP managed its channel well, being transparent about shipment timings and giving assurances to customers, which discouraged them from seeking alternatives.
“Lenovo also had an exceptional quarter, with particular success in Chromebook sales as Google continues to spend big to push its platform with enterprise customers. Its new manufacturing facility in Hungary will also speed up order fulfilment in Europe”, she added.
As well as the shortages situation, the analyst house is also keeping a close eye on the effect of the coronavirus vaccines and the potential impact on PC demand. In Q1, there were no major signs that the availability of jabs had significantly improved business, with uncertainty around third waves and restriction-lifting timetables continuing to have an impact.
Canalys research manager Ben Stanton said: “As vaccinations progress, restrictions have started to ease, which will pave the way for economic recovery. The world that emerges will not be the same as the one we left behind. Digital transformation has accelerated, apps and workloads are increasingly cloud-based, and employees will now expect remote and hybrid working options. It is extremely unlikely that PC supply will match this sustained demand surge over the next 12 months. If a vendor can supply, the product will fly.”
