COVID-19 had large impacts on demand for PCs as businesses prepared for lockdowns by purchasing notebooks to mobilise their workforce.
In the second quarter of 2020, New Zealand’s traditional PC market experienced a 39.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in unit shipments, reaching nearly 217,000 units according to the latest IDC Asia/Pacific Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.
According to IDC the New Zealand PC market for 2020Q2 saw shipments of both commercial and consumer PC devices grow by 61.5 per cent YoY and 13 per cent YoY respectively.
“The commercial market saw huge demand as businesses and students moved into working and learning from home due to lockdowns”, says Liam Landon, associate market analyst at IDC New Zealand. “The education market drove a large amount of growth, with the Ministry of Education distributing many notebooks to students”.
Notebooks saw 61.3 per cent YoY growth, with desktops declining by -11.8 per cent YoY.
“Notebooks saw most of the growth as businesses looked to make their fleets more mobile. This meant moving off desktop form factors where possible to allow employees the flexibility to work from the office or from home after lockdowns ended” said Landon.
Consumer demand was also strong, though closures of physical retail stores during lockdowns meant shifts towards online channels and limited growth.
“When lockdowns eased, pent up demand was released and resulted in increased purchasing of devices for home use. Consumers looked for notebooks over smartphones or tablets due to the increased productivity they offer, particularly with the movement to online learning. This led to growth in the consumer market, and expectations of continued growth during 2020Q3. Whole families are indoors more frequently and are requiring more devices per person to sate increased device usage.”
“Branded gaming PCs saw similar growth as people were trapped inside during lockdowns. Many people turned to gaming to fill time and many consumers decided to refresh their devices.”
PC monitors saw similar strengths to the PC market, growing 61.9 per cent YoY. As companies transitioned to working from home, many employees took the opportunity to set up home offices to allow for greater work flexibility.
“Supply constrained both the PC and Monitor markets as supply chains struggled to keep up with demand. This was exacerbated by increased freight costs, particularly in air freight with fewer flights into New Zealand.”
IDC predicts that New Zealand’s Traditional PC market will have another strong performance in 2020Q3, with a growth of 7.9 per cent expected.
“The consumer market is expected to remain buoyant. However, the commercial market will see slowdowns, particularly within SMBs who are more sensitive to business uncertainty. Notebooks will continue to drive growth as businesses look to create more mobile workforces.”
