Australia’s personal computer market skyrocketed by 11.8 per cent to a total of 4.87 million units during 2020’s COVID-19 lockdown.
According to data by the IDC Quarterly Personal Computing Decides Tracker, the market was driven by growth in consumer segments – which posted a 29 per cent increase YoY – while the commercial market was down by 2 per cent.
Demand for notebooks was strong across the consumer segment, with 29.3 per cent growth, and a total of 3.68 million units sold.
Shipments for desktops, however, declined by 8.6 per cent due to a lack of demand in the commercial segment. Consumer spending on desktop computers offset this decline with 27.8 per cent growth.
“Companies are moving away from desktops to notebooks to allow for a hybrid work environment.” says Reynard Lowell, IDC Australia’s Associate Market Analyst for PC devices.
“The consumer market saw huge demand as PCs became the most used devices at home and households are slowly moving to a 1 PC per person model.”
Gaming PCs were also a huge growth sector; but the market was hindered by component shortages – resulting in a decline of 1.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2020.
PC monitors saw a similar trajectory to the PC market, growing 31.3 per cent YoY.
As working from home became the new normal, many employees took the opportunity to set up a proper home office to allow for greater work flexibility and increase productivity.
The demand for gaming monitors also increased significantly, posting 133 per cent growth YoY for the year 2020.
The IDC predicts that Australia’s PC market will reverse its current trend in 2021, with a slight YoY decline of 4.4 per cent.
“The consumer market will continue to remain strong. However, the commercial market is expected to start to slow, as organisations remain cautious about buying,” Lowell added.
”A stronger second half of the year is expected once there is more certainty and stability in the economy.”
Meanwhile across the Tasman, New Zealand also enjoyed a surge in the PC market with 12.3 per cent YoY growth for 2020, rising to 826,000 units.
“With COVID-19 came a surge in demand for notebooks as schools and businesses scrambled to work and learn from home. This was then followed by increased demand in the consumer market, as savings from lockdowns and a lack of international tourism meant consumers had greater discretionary incomes and a need for entertainment and online learning” says Liam Landon, Associate Market Analyst at IDC New Zealand.
“As businesses move to recovery, there remains a requirement for greater focus on business continuity and mobility. This has meant that businesses and schools continue to move fleets onto notebooks and ensures that in commercial segments notebooks have stayed in high demand, while desktops have continued to decline. However, demand around the world has seen similar increases which has led to shortages and an inability to fulfil all of the demand within the local market.”
