PC vendors struggling to meet demand amid COVID-19 pandemic - analyst

HP's PC shipments plummet as Lenovo closes the gap

Demand is fast outgrowing demand for PCs across Europe, according to IDC.

The analyst said that the shut down in China earlier this year meant that Q1 shipments in EMEA were down 3.1 per cent year on year.

The commercial market saw slight growth of 0.7 per cent, but this would have greater had vendors been able to bring in enough product. Consumer shipments were down 8.9 per cent.

Liam Hall, senior research analyst at IDC, said: "The logistical impacts of COVID-19 also continue to bottle neck the supply chain"

"With passenger flights almost at a standstill, OEM's are having to substitute air freight shipments for sea and, where possible rail, increasing lead times and impacting their ability to address the big bookings that have risen as a consequence of the higher demand."

IDC said desktop shipments were up 6.3 per cent year on year due to "greater insulation from manufacturing supply chain problems", as well as the tail-end of Windows 7 refresh demand.

HP Inc remained the largest supply in EMEA, but its shipments were down 11.3 per cent.

The next three biggest suppliers all saw growth in shipments, IDC said, with Lenovo closing the gap on HP.