Worldwide PC shipments, including tablets declined 2 per cent year-on-year to 122.1 million units, but remained well above pre-pandemic levels in Q3 2021, according to data from Canalys.
According to the report, shipments remained above pre-pandemic levels, with a two-year CAGR of 10 per cent from Q3 2019.
Shipments for both tablets and Chromebooks were down after a string of successive growth quarters.
Tablet shipments fell 15 per cent YoY to 37.7 million units. The shipments fell as the requirement of tablets for consumer and education use cases dropped off in most regions.
Chromebooks witnessed an even steeper decline, with shipments down 37 per cent, “primarily due to a slowdown in education spending in the US”, as per the report. Total Chromebook shipments reached 5.8 million units in Q3 2021.
Top players in total PC market
In terms of the overall global PC market, including desktops, notebooks and tablets, Lenovo maintained its lead with a market share increase of over 1 per cent to 20 per cent as it shipped 24.4 million units.
Apple took the second spot with a growth of 5 per cent for total shipments of 23 million units, taking an 18.9 per cent market share. HP, owing to the impact of supply constraints, recorded a 6 per cent decline in annual shipments and took the third spot with a 14.4 per cent market share. In fourth place was Dell with a 12.5 per cent share. It saw a significant 27 per cent increase in shipments and a nearly 3 per cent increase in market share. Samsung completed the top five with a 6.9 per cent market share.
Tablet market
While the overall tablet market declined in Q3, most vendors still shipped volumes above pre-pandemic levels.
Apple maintained its lead with 15.2 million iPads shipped. It grabbed a 40.4 per cent market share. However, it recorded a flat year-on-year performance.
Samsung came in second despite a 20 per cent decline, shipping 7.2 million units in the third quarter and gaining a 19.1 per cent market share. Lenovo came in third with an 11.3 per cent share, maintaining momentum. It was the only vendor in the top five to see modest growth, with 4.2 million units shipped, up 2 per cent year-on-year. Amazon and Huawei made up the rest of the top five, with significant falls of 45 per cent and 51 per cent respectively and market shares of 7.4 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively.
Also read: Global PC shipments inch up in Q3 2021: Gartner
“Despite the end of its stellar growth streak, the tablet market remains strong, considering the long period of declines that preceded the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Canalys analyst Himani Mukka.
“After five consecutive growth quarters, all regions except Asia Pacific suffered a fall in shipments. In most of the world, demand from consumers and to support basic education functions for younger children has slowed compared to the height of the pandemic. But due to the large device penetration gap in APAC and the region’s preference for tablets as a learning tool, demand is expected to persist until early next year,” said Mukka.
“It’s also worth noting that despite the long refresh cycles for tablets, the installed base has ballooned over the last 18 months. Even if many choose not to upgrade their tablets in the coming years, shipment volumes are set to be elevated above what was expected prior to 2020. Beyond the consumer space, commercial deployments of tablets will be an important aspect of the accelerated digital transformation that businesses undertake as economic recoveries, new workstyles and 5G deployments get underway,” Mukka further added.
Chromebooks face steeper decline
The Chromebook market recorded a 37 per cent YoY fall in shipments (52 per cent quarter on quarter) in Q3 2021.
“This comes as major education markets such as the US and Japan reach saturation point, with public sector funding of digital education programmes slowing. The Chromebook market has grown tremendously since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic as students have been forced to adapt to new learning settings,” the report said.
“Chrome’s focus on the education market meant it was bound to slow down at some point,” said Canalys Research Analyst Brian Lynch.
“Governments, education institutions and households have invested heavily in Chromebooks for more than a year, and with so many students equipped with devices and schools returning to in-class learning, shipment volumes have fallen accordingly,” said Lynch.
“Still, Chrome has massively expanded its user base over the past year and a half and will have far more refresh opportunity due to that growth. Google has also made a significant investment in the enterprise market this year as it attempts to broaden its horizons beyond its secure position in the education space. While this domain presents a much harder challenge for Chrome, it will be able to lean on its economy, security and ease of management to carve out a niche,” added Lynch.
Chromebook vendors struggled across the board during the quarter as the overall market shrunk considerably.
Lenovo took the first spot in the market with 1.4 million units shipped and a 24.6 per cent market share, representing a 21 per cent year-on-year decline.
HP lost its leadership position in the Chromebook market with shipments falling 66 per cent year-on-year. This was due to its focus on the slowing US education market, as per the report. It had a 19 per cent market share during the quarter.
Acer, Dell and Asus made up the remainder of the top five with market share of 16.7 per cent, 14.7 per cent and 12.5 per cent, respectively.
