PNA file photo by Oliver Marquez
MANILA – The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has driven growth in shipment of computers in the country, increasing to 2.85 million units last year.
In a press conference Wednesday, International Data Center (IDC) senior research manager Maciek Gornicki said personal computer (PC) shipments last year were 570,000 units higher compared to 2020 numbers at 2.28 million units.
“PC shipments posted significant growth in the Philippines but (the) spike was delayed to 2021, with supply shortages dampening sales in 2020,” Gornicki said.
Pre-pandemic shipments were at 2.18 million units.
The bulk, or 1.72 million units shipped last year, were sold to the consumer segment, backed by work-from-home work arrangements and online schooling due to mobility restrictions.
Digital transformation, which has accelerated amid the pandemic, has fuelled PC shipments to the enterprise segment at 523,000 last year.
Of the total PC shipments in 2021, Acer remained the top brand for the Philippine PC market for 13 consecutive years.
Acer shared 27 percent of the PC market in the previous year, followed by Lenovo (15 percent), Dell (13 percent), HP (11 percent), and Asus (11 percent).
Outlook for PC demand will remain at the 2 million-unit level annually from 2022 to 2025. However, shipments are expected to slow down due to the reopening of the economy, Gornicki added.
“Significant demand seen during the recent pandemic waves is not sustainable in the long term. Many have already purchased their devices for work-from-home and/or online learning,” he said.
For this year, PC shipments are expected to reach 2.69 million units, 2.34 million units in 2023, 2.37 million units in 2024, and 2.44 million units in 2025. (PNA)
