Demand for PCs continued during start of 2021 despite component shortages, according to research

Western European PC market sees 48 per cent year-on-year increase with HP leading the way, Canalys finds

PC shipments in western Europe rose 48 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021 to reach 16.1 million units, according to research from Canalys.

That is despite the ongoing global shortage in components like semiconductors which are still delaying orders, according to the tech analyst, which also says that the supply chain is in "much better shape" than in Q1 of 2020.

HP regained the top spot, shipping 4.1 million units and taking a 26 per cent share of the market, with Lenovo close behind at 4 million units to take a 25 per cent share.

Dell, Apple and Acer completed the top five, with shares of 14 per cent, 10 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.

"While demand remains sky high, the question is can supply cope? Right now, the vendors that can fulfil orders the quickest will win," said Canalys research analyst Trang Pham.

"In Q1, several PC distributors and resellers reported strong supply of HP devices, especially for AMD models. And in cases where shipment delays were inevitable, HP managed its channel well, being transparent about shipment timings and giving assurances to customers, which discouraged them from seeking alternatives.

"Lenovo also had an exceptional quarter, with particular success in Chromebook sales as Google continues to spend big to push its platform with enterprise customers."

Apple saw the highest growth out of the top five, up 127 per cent year-on-year thanks to its new devices powered by Apple's own M1 chips, while Acer was up 102 per cent.

COVID continued to impact sales in countries like France, Germany and Italy, which were hit with new waves of COVID cases and were forced to re-impose stricter measures.

And the vaccine programme "did not significantly improve business and social activity in Q1", Canalys says, which it puts down to "limited supply, diplomatic incidents, and medical authority hesitancy over the AstraZeneca vaccine in some countries".