The Covid-19 outbreak has triggered the most significant fall in PC shipments since 2013, as pandemic affected supply chains and forced consumers to prioritize their spending.
After a sharp fall in the first quarter of 2020, global PC shipments have grown in the last eight months. However, it wasn’t enough to alleviate the revenue loss of the entire industry this year.
According to data presented by Finaria.it, global PC sales revenue is expected to plunge by $31,4-billion amid the Covid-19 outbreak, falling to $202,2-billion in 2020.
The rise in smartphone usage and the global shift from hardware to cloud solutions had been driving a downturn in global PC sales for years. Between 2011 and 2017, PC shipments dropped by 30% to 262,7-million sold units. The 2018 shortage in Intel central processing units cut global shipments to 259.7 million, under 2007 levels.
The entire PC industry’s revenue amounted to $231.3bn that year, revealed the Statista Technology Market Outlook. In the next 12 months, this figure modestly increased to $233,6-billion. However, the coronavirus pandemic triggered the worst market contraction in years, despite the rising demand for PCs and laptops due to remote working and distance learning.
Statistics show the laptop segment is expected to witness the biggest sales drop amid the Covid-19 crisis, with revenues falling to $116,3-billion by the end of 2020, a 14,3% decrease year-over-year.
The sales in the desktop PC segment is forecast to plunge by 13,4% YoY to $50,2-billion. Global tablet sales is expected to generate $35,6-billion in revenue in 2020, 10,7% less than a year ago.
Statista data also indicate it will take three years for the PC industry to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, revenues are projected to grow by 8,5% YoY to $219,5-billion, $14-billion below 2019 levels. By the end of 2023, global PC sales revenues are expected to rise to $235,2-billion.
Statistics show the Covid-19 outbreak caused a huge financial hit to even the largest companies and markets in the PC industry. The revenues of the US PC industry, as the largest globally, are forecast to drop by 17,2% YoY to $46,5-billion in 2020.
The PC sales in the Chinese market, the second-largest globally, is expected to plunge by 5,9% YoY to $34,1-billion. Japan ranked as the third-largest market in the PC industry with $14,6-billion in revenue in 2020, a 13,5% decrease in a year.
Besides substantial revenue losses, the PC industry also witnessed a decrease in PC shipments this year. Statistics show that 187,8-million PCs were shipped worldwide in the nine months of 2020, a 1,6% drop YoY.