PC shipment gains continue as students, workers remain remote

Personal computer shipments continued their brisk-as-all-get-out pace in the first quarter, with year-over-year increases from 32% to 52%, a pair of research firms said last week.

Analysts disagreed over whether these increases were tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting work-at-home orders, the latter responsible for driving buying sprees globally in 2020. Instead, analysts credited carry-overs from last year for the robust numbers early this year, saying that the disruption of supply chains 12 months ago sustained a year-long domino effect.

“Unfulfilled demand from the past year has carried forward into the first quarter, and additional demand brought on by the pandemic has also continued to drive volume,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s mobile device trackers team, splitting the difference in assigning responsibility for the shipment numbers.

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