Notebook sales soar in Q2 2020, led by HP & Lenovo

Boston — (Business Wire) — During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers, commercial clients, and schools scrambled to purchase mobile productivity devices once thought to be redundant. All of that purchasing drove 27% year-on-year growth for notebook shipments, according to Strategy Analytics’ latest report.

Now up for debate is whether demand from the back-to-school and holiday seasons were pulled forward due to the pandemic or if this just the beginning of a new growth era for Notebook PCs.

The full report from Strategy Analytics’ Connected Computing Devices (CCD) service, Preliminary Global Notebook PC Shipments and Market Share: Q2 2020 Results can be found here: https://www.strategyanalytics.com/access-services/devices/tablets-and-pcs/connected-computing-devices/market-data/report-detail/preliminary-global-notebook-pc-shipments-and-market-share-q2-2020-results-130820

Chirag Upadhyay, Senior Research Analyst said, “The main reason for all vendors’ success in improving supply chain demand is by working closely with channel and retail partners. Most vendors started the quarter by delivering panic buy/backlog orders which were held back in March due to the lockdown imposed on majority of the countries.

However, as the quarter progressed, all the vendors managed to fulfil customers’ requirements on time by working closely with channel partners (including retail) to deliver products more efficiently and in a timely manner.”

He continued, “There is definitely risk of prolonged economic hardship and a downturn in demand in countries still dealing with the first wave of infections, but this pessimism could spread quickly if more countries enter a second wave of infections like Japan, Hong Kong, Australia.”

Eric Smith, Director of Connected Computing added, “The biggest surprise of the quarter was the robust demand generated from consumers buying their own devices for work, studying, and play despite tough economic headwinds.

Gaming proved to be an effective distraction in a physically isolated world. Chromebooks, in particular, experienced high demand from schools and consumers to support e-learning efforts. How these behaviors develop during and after the pandemic will be closely studied to determine the direction of the notebook market long-term.”

Global Notebook PC Shipments by Vendor (Preliminary Results, Millions of Units)
Vendor	Q2 ’20	Q2 ’19	Quarterly Growth Y/Y
Lenovo	13.6	11.5	17%
HP	13.4	9.5	42%
Dell	8.4	7.0	21%
Apple	4.6	3.8	21%
Acer	3.6	2.6	41%
Others	10.5	8.1	29%
Totals	54.2	42.5	*27%*

Global Notebook PC Market Share by Vendor (Preliminary Results, % of Total Shipments)
Vendor		Q2 ’20		Q2 ’19
Lenovo		25.0%		27.1%
HP		24.8%		22.3%
Dell		15.6%		16.4%
Apple		8.5%		9.0%
Acer		6.7%		6.1%
Others		19.4%		19.1%
Totals		100.0%		100.0%
Source: Strategy Analytics’ Connected Computing Devices service