Global sales of laptops, desktops reach 300 million this year

Analysts expect annual global shipments of PCs to reach 300 million in 2020, roughly 15 percent more from a year ago, due to the need for remote learning and working.

The pandemic prompted families to expand from one PC for each household to one for each student, homebound worker, or video gamer.
PC is the industry’s collective term for laptops and desktops.

Tablets sales are even brisker.

Larger devices had become afterthoughts to smartphones over the last decade until the pandemic caused a resurgence.

PC manufacturers still are months away from fulfilling outstanding orders, hardware industry executives and analysts said.

Research company Canalys expects installed PCs and tablets to reach 1.77 billion by the end of 2021, up from 1.64 billion in 2019.

To meet the sudden demand, PC vendors added suppliers, sped up shipping, and teased better models launching next year.

According to Ryan Reith, vice president at analyst firm IDC, additional government stimulus money for schools and businesses in many countries may add to the shortage until 2022.

Soon-to-be-released computers will feature better cameras and speakers for video conferencing, artificial intelligence software to simplify tasks like logging on and switching off cameras, and cellular chips to aid users in accessing 4G or 5G mobile signals.