PC shipments in Q3 2020 had the highest quarterly growth in 5 years, a 3.6% increase over Q3 2019 with 71.4 million products shipped, Gartner reported.

“The market is no longer being measured in the number of PCs per household; rather, the dynamics have shifted to account for one PC per person. While PC supply chain disruptions tied to the COVID-19 pandemic have been largely resolved, this quarter saw shortages of key components, such as panels, as a result of this high consumer demand,” Gartner Research Director Mikako Kitagawa explained.

“The business PC market had a more cautious dynamic this quarter. Businesses have continued to buy PCs for remote work, but the focus has shifted from urgent device procurement towards cost optimization. However, enterprise spending remained strong where government funding for distance learning and remote work has fueled device purchases, such as in the U.S. and Japan.”

Gartner does not count Chromebooks in their calculations which saw a 90% jump in shipments year over year to Q3 2019. The top three manufacturers were the same as the previous quarter - Lenovo, HP and Dell - although Lenovo widened its lead over HP after a quarter of record shipment volume.

Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q20 (Thousands of Units)

For the first time in ten years the U.S. market had double-digit growth of 11.4% year over year.