Global Q2 Notebook PC Shipments Drop 15% as Consumers Shift Spend: SA

Global notebook PC shipments fell 15% year-on-year in Q2 as demand shifted to more normal levels following a COVID-19-inspired surge, Strategy Analytics reported Tuesday. Despite new challenges, sales and average selling prices are better for PC vendors than pre-COVID times, and SA expects the trend to continue as customers steer toward more premium products. In Q2, consumer spending moved to holiday, new clothes and home improvements, with some pullback due to inflation, said analyst Chirag Upadhyay. Commercial notebook PC business “still looks solid” on spending for hybrid work solutions, though some large enterprises are leaning toward desktop PCs as people return to offices, he said. So far in Q3, consumer notebook spending has improved a bit in education as shoppers want the latest laptops and back-to-school discounts, Upadhyay said. Chromebook shipments plunged 53% year on year on lower educational demand, but shipments were 11% higher sequentially, said analyst Eric Smith. Education spending is “on hold” vs. other priorities in many countries, but Smith said the market will grow “as governments re-start spending on digitization.” Market leader Lenovo had a 17% year-on-year drop in notebook shipments in Q2 to 12.8 million, for 23% share. HP’s notebook shipments plunged 29% to 10.5 million; it tied for 19% share with Dell, whose shipments slipped by a point to 10.3 million. Apple shipments declined 13% to 4.18 million for 9% share, followed by Acer, with a 16% falloff to 4.3 million units, SA said.