PC ownership will rise from one-per-family to one-per person, Lenovo CEO predicts

COVID will drive another wave of PC penetration, with ownership in mature markets likely to rise from one PC per family to one PC per person.

That's the prediction of Lenovo chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang, who said on an earnings call yesterday that the strong demand Lenovo saw for PCs, tablets and displays in its fiscal Q1 of 2021 will become a long-term trend.

This will see the total addressable market swell to 300 million units a year.

Lenovo registered a strong rise in its top and bottom lines in its quarter ending 30 June 2020, with net profits up 29 per cent on revenues that rose seven per cent to $13.35bn.

The Chinese vendor draws 80 per cent of sales from its PC and Smart Device (PCSD) arm, which saw revenue pogo 10 per cent to $10.6bn.

Datacentre sales leapt 19 per cent to $1.61bn while its mobile arm saw revenues drop back 27 per cent to $1.09bn due to a slowdown in demand in Latin America.

On an earnings call, Yang attributed the double-digit PC growth to increased demand driven by work-from-home and e-learning.

He was quick to emphasise that this uptick flies in the face of earlier forecasts that COVID would slow PC sales.

"I think COVID-19 impact to PC industry is definitely positive," Yang said on an earnings call, a transcript of which can be found here.

"…that will drive PC from on per family to one per person - so one unit per person. So that way, we'll significantly enlarge the PC TAM [total addressable market] from today around 260 million, 270 million, to more than 300 million."

Yang added that the growth is currently being driven by mature markets including the US, Europe and Japan, despite their current 70-80 per cent PC penetration rates.

"So there's still a need for more PC," he said.

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• Lenovo