The increase in telecommuting over the past 18 months has led to a surge in PC sales and also created a chain demand for PC monitors. But now it seems that demand is starting to weaken.
In the third quarter (Q3) of 2021, PC monitor shipments declined for the first time after five consecutive quarters of growth, according to IDC.
Global PC monitor shipments fell 7.2% to 34.8 million units from Q3 2020, when remote workers purchased 37.5 million monitors, many of them as second monitor. IDC estimates that 86.7 million desktops and laptops were sold in the third quarter of 2021, up 5% from the same period a year earlier.
At the start of the pandemic, some workers began to “hack their productivity” at home by purchasing a second monitor for their laptop to make it easier for themselves, as they spent up to 13 hours a day on computer screens. computer.
This trend has resulted in a temporary boom for monitor brands, such as Dell, Lenovo, and HP. Vendors like Samsung continue to tout the benefits of daisy-chaining additional monitors to a laptop to create a larger “visual canvas” on which to multitask at home.
“As more workers are returning to the office around the world, demand from the pros has helped recoup some of the volume losses due to declining consumer purchases,” IDC said.
Despite the decline in PC monitor sales to normal levels, IDC says 2021 will be a banner year for the segment and provide a larger consumer base to refresh as hybrid work becomes the norm. Otherwise, sales of monitors will revert to their original buyers in the business segment.
IDC estimates that sales of monitors in the first half of 2021 will leave the industry with a gain of 4.6% from 2020, with volumes for 2021 reaching 143 million units.
“We expect the market to have peaked in volume as we end 2021 with the highest shipping levels since 2012,” said Jay Chou, research director for IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Monitor Tracker. .
“Even if things settle down, we still see areas of opportunity in the years to come. The professional segments will once again be the main driver, but the general public will also refresh a much larger installed base, which is growing. is being developed during this difficult time. We believe that the changes brought about by the permanence of hybrid work and flexible learning will allow faster refresh rates in all user segments. ”
Dell was the biggest winner and the market leader in the third quarter of 2021, with shipments increasing 20.6% year-on-year to 7.67 million units, while Lenovo’s shipments increased by 6.9% over the period to reach 4.24 million units. These brands rely more on sales to professionals.
Consumer-oriented brands performed less well. Shipments of monitors from TPV, HP Inc. and Samsung fell 30.1%, 21% and 14.7%, respectively. Their respective deliveries were 3.9 million, 3.7 million and 2.9 million.
PC demand remained higher than usual until 2021. However, sales and supplies were constrained by the persistence of the supply chain and chip shortages.
IDC notes that supply constraints and spending priorities negatively impacted commercial monitor shipments, which were down 2% year-over-year. But the total consumer monitor market has shrunk by more than 12% year over year.
Source: “ZDNet.com”