The declining PC market, which includes laptops and tablets, has got a fresh lease of life, thanks to the pandemic that has completely changed the way people have been working and learning so long. The work-and-learn-from-home culture has been has been helping PC sales grow.
A surge in PC sales was seen last year and this year too has started on a good note. Despite the semiconductor shortage that has slowed down manufacturing, PC sales grew for the fourth consecutive quarter in theJanuary to March 2021 period, according to a new report from analyst firm Canalys. High demand for bigger devices saw global shipments of PC once again increasing, with manufacturers still months away from fulfilling orders.
PC Sales Continue to Surge
Over the past year, PC sales have been on the rise due to growing demand for personal computers and video collaboration products as schools and offices are completely or partially shut down to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Millions have been working and learning from home, which has led to a rise in sales of bigger devices. Also, the videogame market has been helping PC sales. According to a new report from Canalys, PC shipments surged a whopping 53.1% in the first quarter to 122.1 million units on a year-over-year basis.
Sales were driven by robust demand for
Alphabet, Inc.
’s
GOOGL
Google Chromebook, while saw more than12 million units being soldin the first quarter, up a staggering 275%. Besides, 39.7 million tablets were shipped in the quarter.
HP Inc.
HPQ
was the top vendor last quarter, with shipments growing more than 4million units, reflecting a whopping increase of 633.7% on a year-over-year basis.
Lenovo Group Ltd.
LNVGY
took the second spot, selling 3.1 million units.
The tablet market too witnessed a boom.
Apple, Inc.
AAPL
took the top position registering 50.3% year-over-year growth by shipping 15.2 million units.
PC Sales Poised to Grow
Smartphones have been eating into the market share of PCs for quite some time. However, things changed during the pandemic. Demand is likely to continue given the present situation wherein coronavirus cases are still on the rise.
According to an earlier report from Canalys, the installed PCs and tablets market will reach 1.77 billion by 2021 end, up from 1.64 billion in 2019. Tablets too have seen huge demand during the pandemic and the market is likely to grow in 2021.
Our Choices
Alphabet Inc.
has been one of the best performers in the PC market lately. One of the biggest reasons behind this is the success of Chromebooks, which has revolutionized the PC market once again. The company sold the maximum number of PCs in the third quarter.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 50%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 27.3% over the past 60 days. Alphabet has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
HP Inc.
is a leading global provider of personal computing and other access devices, imaging and printing products, and related technologies, solutions and services to individual consumers, SMBs and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 46.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 2.5% over the past 60 days. HP has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Apple, Inc.
designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories worldwide. Its signature products include iPhone, Mac and iPad.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 55.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 14.1% over the past 60 days. Apple has a Zacks Rank #2.
Dell Technologies Inc.
DELL
is a provider of information technology solutions. The company’s operating segment consists of Client Solutions, Enterprise Solutions Group and Dell Software Group. The Client Solutions segment includes sales to commercial and consumer customers of desktops, thin client products, notebooks as well as services and third-party software and peripherals of Client Solutions hardware.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for next year is 9.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 2.5% over the past 60 days. Dellhas a Zacks Rank #2.
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