HP Reclaims Top Spot In U.S. PC Shipments In Q2

The U.S. PC market grew 3.5 percent during the second quarter amid the continuation of widespread work-from-home, according to Gartner.

The shift to remote work continued to spark major demand for highly portable PCs during the second quarter of the year, and HP Inc. had the strongest PC growth among the leading vendors, reclaiming the No. 1 spot in the U.S. market, research firm Gartner reported.

HP generated 20.1-percent growth in U.S. PC shipments during the second quarter, year-over-year--leading the company to regain the top market share after being surpassed by Dell during the first quarter, according to Gartner.

[Related: HP CEO Foresees 'One PC Per Person' In the Home, Device-As-A-Service Boom]

Meanwhile, HP also came close to tying global PC front-runner Lenovo on worldwide shipments during the second quarter, with HP achieving 24.9-percent global PC market share compared to 25 percent for Lenovo, according to Gartner. Research firm IDC reported that HP actually took the top spot on worldwide PC shipments in Q2, with 25-percent global market share to 24.1 percent for Lenovo. (Gartner’s PC shipments figures do not include Chromebooks, while IDC does factor Chromebooks into its figures.)

On the whole, Q2 "represented a short-term recovery for the worldwide PC market," said Mikako Kitagawa, research director at Gartner, in a news release.

"Mobile PC growth was particularly strong, driven by several factors including business continuity for remote working, online education and consumers’ entertainment needs," Kitagawa said. "However, this uptick in mobile PC demand will not continue beyond 2020, as shipments were mainly boosted by short-term business needs due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic."

During the first quarter in the U.S., Dell had ended up with a sizable market-share lead with 31.4 percent of U.S. PC shipments overall--well ahead of HP's 24.8-percent share of the market for that quarter, according to Gartner.

However, Q2 saw the situation reverse--with HP seizing a 32.8-percent share in the U.S. PC market, compared to 26.1 percent for Dell, which saw its shipments fall 3.2 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to Gartner.

Lenovo, which remained in third place with 15.6-percent market share, saw a 4.8-percent drop in U.S. PC shipments during the quarter, year-over-year, Gartner reported. Apple's Mac shipments climbed 4.3 percent during the quarter from the same period of 2019, giving the company a 13-percent share of the U.S. market.

Overall in the U.S., PC shipments rose 3.5 percent during the second quarter, compared to the same period a year earlier, Gartner said. Global shipments in Q2 climbed 2.8 percent, year-over-year, according to Gartner.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP is expecting the strong demand to continue for its PC portfolio, HP CEO Enrique Lores said in a recent interview with CRN.

The company is seeing signs that there is an opportunity for a greater number of PCs to be in use overall as a result of the shifting dynamics stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Lores said. PCs in the home, for instance, have become a requirement for more people as a result of remote work and learning, he said.

"If you want to work efficiently from home or if you want your kids to learn efficiently from home, it is very clear you need a PC. And this is a big long-term opportunity for us," Lores said. "Remember in the past when the goal was to have one PC per household? We're evolving that goal to be to have one PC per person--which, in the long term, opens up big opportunities for PCs."

In particular, notebooks have been in high demand, he said, as the favored device for many remote work and learning scenarios.

“Clearly, there's lots of demand for notebooks, driven both by working from home but also by learning from home,” Lores said. Unit sales of notebooks climbed 5 percent for HP during its second quarter of fiscal 2020, ended April 30--and that growth came even as manufacturing output was constrained. Production has since stabilized, Lores said.

“The factories have been up and running since April. So, from a manufacturing perspective, we haven't seen any disruptions during the quarter. Things are going as planned,” he said.

Here are Gartner's U.S. PC shipments and market-share figures for the second quarter of 2020:

- HP Inc.: Shipments up 20.1 percent; market share of 32.8 percent (28.2 percent a year ago)

- Dell: Shipments down 3.2 percent; market share of 26.1 percent (27.9 percent a year ago)

- Lenovo: Shipments down 4.8 percent; market share of 15.6 percent (16.9 percent a year ago)

- Apple: Shipments up 4.3 percent; market share of 13 percent (12.9 percent a year ago)

- Microsoft: Shipments up 15.2 percent; market share of 4.4 percent (3.9 percent a year ago)

- Acer: Shipments down 1 percent; market share of 2.7 percent (2.8 percent a year ago)