According to new research from Canalys, PC shipments in Western Europe during the first quarter reached 16.1 million units representing year-on-year growth of 48%. The analyst said that despite component shortages and high demand for PCs to enable working from home, the supply chain is in better shape than in Q1 2020 when COVID-19 brought everything to a standstill suddenly.
HP saw the most shipments at 4.1 million units, representing 26% market share and Lenovo saw 4.0 million shipments, representing a 25% market share. In the following three places were Dell, Apple, and Acer who had market shares of 14%, 10%, and 9% respectively. Of these, Apple saw the highest growth, up 127% year on year. Canalys said that the new M1 chipset was a major driver behind sales of new Macs.
Commenting on Apple’s success in Western Europe, Canalys Research Analyst Trang Pham said:
“Apple’s success makes sense, as Western Europe has a base of existing Mac users, high disposable income, and a strong community of tech enthusiasts and early adopters. Apple’s recent move to design its own processors shows its ambition. It also reflects Intel’s lagging SoC process with 5nm and 3nm chips. By working with TSMC directly, Apple has been able to bring 5nm to Mac much sooner.”
As we emerge from the pandemic, Canalys doesn’t believe we’ll return to the world as it was before the pandemic. Instead, it sees employees doing more remote work which will keep demand for PCs high. Over the next 12 months, Canalys doesn’t expect PC supply to match the “sustained demand surge”.