The PC Market Just Had Another Big Year Thanks To Pandemic Demand

The PC market experienced its first big growth in a decade during 2020, when the pandemic began to force people to work and learn from home. Market research firms Gartner and IDC are now reporting that the worldwide PC market has grown again throughout 2021, as demand for traditional PCs continued during a global chip shortage. From a report: Nearly 340 million PCs were shipped in 2021, according to Gartner. That's a nearly 10 percent increase over the already unprecedented numbers seen in 2020. IDC puts the figure at 348.8 million, up nearly 15 percent. "2021 has truly been a return to form for the PC," said Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager at IDC. "Consumer need for PCs in emerging markets and global commercial demand remained strong during the quarter with supply being a gating factor." Ongoing supply issues relating to a global chip shortage mean the PC market "could have been even larger than it was in 2021," according to Tom Mainelli, an executive at IDC. Gartner reports that 2021 saw the highest shipment volume of PCs since 2013, after a 2017 milestone of five years of PC decline.

What is a PC?

[thsths]

If you look at the report, they include Macs, laptops and even ultraportables, but not tablets. That seems reasonable for now, although I expect that Apple is working on running full MacOS on the iPad Pro, now that it has the same M1 CPU as the MacBooks.

Re:

[DarkOx]

Why do you think that? I curious my view is Apple seems to pay rather minimal attention to MacOS at all. I think the see MacOS as the iOS development platform and would very much prefer most end users run an iOS device.

The iPad Pro getting the new hot chips is evidence. I think Apple understand there is a lot of create process that needs serious computer power and there is the gaming world. Initially I saw the M series as maybe signaling commitment to MacOs and Macintosh product lines in general, but now th

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[Ol Olsoc]

Why do you think that? I curious my view is Apple seems to pay rather minimal attention to MacOS at all. I think the see MacOS as the iOS development platform and would very much prefer most end users run an iOS device.

> That's odd. I know in this day and age, there has to be at least a few of us who actually have to create stuff for the pad and phone users to use. I get regular updates, just had a large one today. And my Wife's ipd and our iPhones get updated around the same time.

The iPad Pro getting the new hot chips is evidence.

I think it makes good sense to keep up on all the platforms.

I think Apple understand there is a lot of create process that needs serious computer power and there is the gaming world. Initially I saw the M series as maybe signaling commitment to MacOs and Macintosh product lines in general, but now that its available in the iOS world I am back to the opinion Apple's goal is gently move the vast vast majority of customers to an iOS device of some kind. Macs will be a developer tool.

It won't be one if they pay minimal attention to it. I think you have the details correct, but I don't agree with your conclusions.

Re:What is a PC?

[jellomizer]

I guess you can classify PC as personal computers, Tablets and Phones probably don't make the cut, because you rent them, and cannot do whatever you want with them. Unlike a PC, where you can clear out and install whatever OS you want with what ever software for good for for ill.

Re:

[ctilsie242]

I doubt Apple will ever put MacOS on the iPad. Mainly because of product differentiation. Yes, the latest iPad Pro has a M1 CPU, but the chance it will run something other than a locked down OS with a restricted workflow without a jailbreak is quite low.

Re:

[Ol Olsoc]

I doubt Apple will ever put MacOS on the iPad. Mainly because of product differentiation. Yes, the latest iPad Pro has a M1 CPU, but the chance it will run something other than a locked down OS with a restricted workflow without a jailbreak is quite low.

Just like all tablets and smartphones, the iPad Pro is a consumption device.

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[mjwx]

I doubt Apple will ever put MacOS on the iPad. Mainly because of product differentiation. Yes, the latest iPad Pro has a M1 CPU, but the chance it will run something other than a locked down OS with a restricted workflow without a jailbreak is quite low.

It's the other way around, they want to put IOS on the Mac.

PC's and mice live,

[Tablizer]

so let's stop making "mobile first" UI's a priority. Real GUI's are the pinnical of productivity UI's, not shit like Bootstrap. Git off my lawn, Bootie! For one, let's form a stateful GUI markup standard so we don't need bloat-loads of buggy JavaScript to get normal and common GUI idioms across networks. Stop letting fadsters set our damn standards, they are hit-and-run.

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[jellomizer]

Well Mobile First UI, is a big advantage to the mobile user, and a small disadvantage to the PC user. So if you have the resources to do only one, focusing on mobile may be the better option.

For the past 20+ years the Web HTML/CSS/Javascript had became the standard GUI protocol. Other Network GUI's are outdated like X Windows, where it is much slower to display and render over a network compared to others. Or are a stupid hack like Citrix which in general is a video on what is happening on the server (wh

Re:

[boskone]

Having led (as the business leader) several web design projects, some for very highly trafficked sites, I would disagree with you. You have to make a ton of compromises to make things even semi functional on mobile that absoltuely destroy the ability to help users navigate very high density information.

I'm sure in a "selling" site that might work, but if you actually need to communicate with your users to not just influence them, but also serve them across a broad swath of topics, it's hell and you're robb

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[jellomizer]

I have led (as the business leader) myself several web design projects with a lot of traffic as well, and I didn't have too much problems with it. Sure it wasn't as easy designing for 1 screen size, and a standard input. However, we did spend a lot of time in planning to break things down to Mobile components and Desktop Components, seeing what can usefully be used the same in all environments, and what would need to be swapped when you change platforms.

A big issue Mobile devises don't like to show data i

Re:

[Tablizer]

I generally agree. Making it work well on both mobile and desktops is not easy. Maybe a few UI Sheldon Coopers can pull it off, but either you pay a lot for a top UI designer, or wing-it with generalists. (And Sheldon's are annoying.)

The optimum UI design for a desktop+mouse is just too different from that of mobile. For casual use screens it doesn't matter much, but for heavy use apps/screens the gaps add up.

Even take toolbars: with mice you can rely on roll-over pop-up text to explain icons. With mobile y

Re:

[Tablizer]

Clarification: "but either you pay a lot for a top UI designer, or wing-it with generalists, giving you dodgy results, such as bugs and/or hard-to-change designs when requirements later change."

Another annoyance is that finger-oriented UI's waste a lot of screen real-estate because they have to leave spacing for fingers, which are wider than mouse-pointers.

re: X Windows

[Tablizer]

> Other Network GUI's are outdated like X Windows, where it is much slower to display and render over a network compared to others.

X Windows doesn't have buffered input widgets or forms*; each keystroke has to go over the network before any feedback arrives at the client. An http-friendly GUI markup standard would have buffered input. I'm working on a proof of concept to (hopefully) demonstrate a good balance of client and server and state for CRUD apps, but life and work interrupt progress.

* last i che

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[UnknowingFool]

That is the not the only factor. With people at home more, they can use desktops more instead of laptops or tablets which are more portable. However the trend had been laptops and tablets in the years before the pandemic and people stopped buying/upgrading desktops. Then they needed a newer computer or a 2nd computer. Desktops were now an option if they could not get a laptop or tablet.

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[jbengt]

With people at home more, they can use desktops more instead of laptops or tablets which are more portable.

No one at my house uses desktops anymore. I've been using laptops for personal use for about 18 years and I've been issued a laptop for work since about 8 years ago. The difference is, since being issued the laptop at work, I've always used it with a second monitor in addition to the laptop screen, a mouse, and a real keyboard. (except on the commuter train) My oldest personal laptop had a good tr

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[UnknowingFool]

Does your house represent the entire market? No? Also we are talking about computers bought by consumers for home use not laptops issued by work.

Fallacy?

[OrangeTide]

something something broken window fallacy.

destruction, and the money spent to recover from destruction, is not actually a net benefit to society. [wikipedia.org]

Other Factors

[4pins]

the pandemic began to force people to work and learn from home

Other Factors:

• AMD CPUs sometimes beating Intel's in performance
• Intel finally on 10nm (for 2021, primarily in laptops)
• Nvidia's huge (roughly 2x) leap in GPU performance
• AMD almost catching up with Nvidia in raw GPU performance (but not features)
• Apple switching architectures (and doing it as well as I have ever seen)
• A crypto currency renaissance
• People needing to play from home

It has been a great two years of computer products,if you could get your hands on them. After a decade of just using hand-me-downs from work, I've bought two macs and built a PC.

Re:

[antdude]

I wanted to get AMD CPU and its mobo last summer, but geez their prices cost more compared to Intel. Same for video cards. I had to get the cheaper priced and slower ones. :(

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[mjwx]

the pandemic began to force people to work and learn from home

Other Factors:

• AMD CPUs sometimes beating Intel's in performance
• Intel finally on 10nm (for 2021, primarily in laptops)
• Nvidia's huge (roughly 2x) leap in GPU performance
• AMD almost catching up with Nvidia in raw GPU performance (but not features)
• Apple switching architectures (and doing it as well as I have ever seen)
• A crypto currency renaissance
• People needing to play from home

It has been a great two years of computer products,if you could get your hands on them. After a decade of just using hand-me-downs from work, I've bought two macs and built a PC.

I've said it for ages, ever since they've been coming out with this "post PC" bullshit... It is not that fewer people are using PCs, it's that the PCs are lasting longer. You're no longer on a 2yr upgrade cycle. My last gaming computer lasted five years without a major upgrade (only a few new HDDs) before even starting to show it's age.

Two major factors I think have contributed to increasing demand. Both mentioned above.

1. There has been marked improvements in CPU's, GPUs, mainboards and such. Even ig

Expect this through 2024

[smooth wombat]

We have orders coming up on ten months old which haven't been filled and there is no ETA on when they will. And by filled I mean the machine physically created, not even shipped.

Any talk you hear from manufacturers or suppliers can be considered outright lies if they say anything is looking better. Private industry has failed miserably.

What needs to be done is have their financial statements examined to expose the lies. I can guarantee they are mixing in "sales" with "revenue" even though they haven't rece

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[Major_Disorder]

You can get machines. You just have to be a bit flexible. The exact model you want may not be available, but something close enough usually is. I do all the computer ordering at my company and have got all the machines I need. Mostly I order higher end Lenovo, Dell, and Apple laptops. Availability is not limited but it is not ,waiting a year for a machine, bad. At least not yet.

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[smooth wombat]

We're ordering them on a contract so the model is fixed. Some of the orders are single machine, other times it can be two hundred or so.

We haven't received an order of anything for months. We did get part of a order, one of those which was placed in April of 2021, and finally installed in December. But that was only part of the overall order. I still have about 80 more machines from that same order which haven't come in. The orders which should have been installed in the Spring are nowhere to be seen an

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[Major_Disorder]

Sounds like you need to talk to your vendors. I don't order anywhere near those quantities, my reps get me what I need. I would assume an order that has been pending for 10 months is an order that will never be delivered.
Good luck to you.

Methinks the trend will not continue in 2022

[wakeboarder]

I think the demand will decrease in the second half of 2022 because most everyone that needs a computer will have bought one, I think money will leave crypto and GPU prices will starte to come down a bit.

Re:

[OrSpace]

I missed the time when I could buy a good computer for a low price. Now I have to save up a lot of money to afford a decent computer. It's good that I found a way how to sell csgo skins for crypto such as btc, ethereum, litecoin and other [skins.cash]. I have quite a few skins left from the time I played cs go, and it seems that this is the only way to update the computer.