Lenovo leads global PC market in Q3, Apple 2nd

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Lenovo maintained its lead in the total PC market (including desktops, notebooks and tablets) globally, with a market share increase of over 1 per cent and shipping 24.4 million units in the third quarter, according to new report.

Apple remained in second place with modest growth of 5 per cent for total shipments of 23 million units. HP felt the impact of supply constraints, with a 6 per cent decline in annual shipments and at the fourth place, Dell saw a stellar 27 per cent increase in shipments and a nearly 3 per cent increase in market share, according to latest data from market research form Canalys.

Samsung completed the top five, as it did in Q2 2021. The worldwide PC shipments (including tablets) fell by 2 per cent (on-year) to 122.1 million units. But shipments remain well above pre-pandemic levels, with a two-year CAGR of 10 per cent from Q3 2019.

"Despite the end of its stellar growth streak, the tablet market remains strong, considering the long period of declines that preceded the pandemic," said Canalys Analyst Himani Mukka. After five consecutive growth quarters, all regions except Asia Pacific suffered a fall in shipments.

"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," Mukka said.

Both tablets and Chromebooks were down after a string of successive growth quarters. Tablet shipments fell 15 per cent (on-year) to 37.7 million units, as the need for tablets to support consumer and education use cases dropped off in most regions. Chromebooks suffered an even steeper decline, with shipments down 37 per cent, primarily due to a slowdown in education spending in the US.

Total Chromebook shipments reached 5.8 million units in Q3. While the overall tablet market fell in Q3, most vendors still shipped volumes above pre-pandemic levels. With 15.2 million iPads shipped, Apple maintained its lead in the rankings, with 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. The Chromebook market was hit by a massive downturn, with a 37 per cent year-on-year fall in shipments (52 per cent quarter on quarter) in Q3. "Chrome's focus on the education market meant it was bound to slow down at some point," said Canalys Research Analyst Brian Lynch.