PC Shipments Up Nicely In Q2 On Intel Chip Supply Rebound, Lenovo Leads Charge
Intel and AMD currently have the once of fiercest rivalry that we’ve seen in years in the CPU market right now. Intel admitted the renewed competition in a leaked memo in June. Intel had a bit of a rebound in Q2 2019 with stronger CPU availability that has pushed overall PC shipments up for the quarter. IDC says that the overall market for PCs, including desktops, notebooks, and workstations for the quarter totaled 64.9 million units.
The PC market overall saw growth of 4.7% for Q2 2019, which IDC calls "noticeably higher" than expectations. The research firm says that two big reasons for the higher than expected growth in the PC market were easing supply shortages, and looming potential for significant new tariffs. The supply of Intel chips improved markedly in the quarter allowing PC vendors to fulfill old orders and ship a "healthy supply" of new PCs into channels.
With the threat of new tariffs looming, some PC suppliers shipped a surplus of notebooks and desktops, propping up the PC market during Q2. Improving supplies of Intel chips and looming tariffs weren't the only reasons for the growth in the PC market, the end of service date for Windows 7 also contributed. IDC points out that the PC market has entered the last leg of Windows 7 to Windows 10 commercial migrations.
IDC also talked about specific regions of the world in its report noting that Canada posted its 12th consecutive quarter of growth with a preliminary growth rate of 11%, the highest growth rate in nine years. The traditional PC market in Asia/Pacific, which excludes Japan, beat IDC's forecast with modest year-on-year growth. The EMEA region saw growth after two consecutive quarters of declines. The Latin America market continued its year-over-year decline for Q2 2019, but the decline was less than expected. The U.S. posted record high single-digit growth for the quarter.
Leading the charge in growth for the quarter was Lenovo shipping 16.2 million units and grabbing 25% of the global market. HP was second with 3.2% growth compared to Q2 2018. Dell was third with 3.1% growth for the quarter. Acer took the fourth spot and saw a decline in its growth. Apple sat in the fifth spot, shipping nearly 4.1 million units.
