The second wave of COVID-19 hitting many countries together with companies preparing for longer-term remote-working environments have pushed PC shipments to levels not seen since 2011, according to analyst firm Canalys.
Worldwide notebook and mobile workstation shipments in the third quarter were 28.3% higher than a year ago, helping push overall PC shipments up 12.7% year on year to 79.2 million units.
According to Canalys, the industry shipped 64.6 million notebooks. Canalys' notebook figures include Chromebooks but not tablets or detachables.
However, the shift to remote working pushed desktop shipments down by 26% compared with a year ago.
This quarter's growth in PC shipments surpassed the 9% year-on-year growth in Q2 2020 PC shipments[1].
The pandemic has brought mixed results for Microsoft, which reported slowing demand from smaller businesses but bigger spending from large companies in Q4 FY20[2].
Stalled smaller companies and business closures resulted in Windows OEM professional revenues declining 4% year on year, while Windows OEM non-professional revenues were up 34% in the quarter.
On other hand, people are spending more time on their computers. In May, Microsoft Windows and Devices chief product officer Panos Panay said[3] "over four trillion minutes are being spent on Windows 10 a month, a 75% increase year on year".
Lenovo shipped the most PCs in Q3 2020 with 19.27 million units, up 11.4%, leaving it with a market share of 24.3%. HP shipments grew 11.9% compared with last year to 18.66 million units, resulting in a 23.6% share of the PC market.
Dell shipped 11.99 million units and has a market share of 15.1% but its shipments were down 0.5% compared with a year ago.
Apple's Mac shipments grew an impressive 13.2% to