Desktop sales boom as pandemic works

Heavy machines have long been losing their cachet, as sleeker, hipper, more mobile devices such as laptops and smartphones dominate the gadget market. Initially, the pandemic seemed likely to buck that trend, as people fled offices and schools to buy laptops for their temporary “remote” circumstances. Desktop PC sales fell.

This year, however, there has been a jump in demand for desktops, as some workers have returned to the office, and others tightened up their work-from-home arrangements. Worldwide desktop shipments are expected to grow about 7% this year, according to International Data Corp, after falling sharply during the first year of the pandemic, with computer companies such as Dell Technologies Inc. and HP Inc. I’ve seen a boom. Global shipments, which declined in previous years.

“For many of those people who work from home, they might have been fine with a laptop before. But they really want something that’s a big display, so that they’re really productive,” said Alex Cho, HP’s president of personal systems. “They want a great keyboard and a mouse, dual displays.”

Laptop demand also remains hot, though annual shipment growth as reported by IDC this year is expected to decline to 15% from a 29% increase in the first year of the pandemic.

Desktop PC is now in its fifth decade of existence. Laptop sales surpassed desktops for the first time in 2009, per IDC. Around the same time the rise of the smartphone put a computer in everyone’s pocket, and tablets like Apple Inc.’s iPad also saw widespread adoption. The pandemic appears to be marking the latest trend to make a dent in desktop popularity.

But it’s hard to kill the desktop. Industry executives say that generally, it offers higher computing speeds, more memory, a bigger screen, and a better camera than similarly priced laptops. “It offers great value. It provides superior performance. Those things still matter, and they matter,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.

Industry executives said features like these explain why some employees, who initially started remote working with laptops, moved to desktops after concluding they were not getting enough performance with their portable devices. Had been.

“There were many complaints [the laptop] Not having enough power about missing an old-fashioned keyboard,” said James Rocker, chief executive of Nerds the Care, a Long Island, NY-based information technology services firm.

Many of his legal services and financial clients, he said, require “a little more horsepower, a little more performance than what a laptop can actually provide.” His company had to install multiple desktops in people’s homes, he said.

Intel Corp. CEO Pat Gelsinger is among those to make the switch. He said he had two laptops with him during the pandemic and replaced one with a desktop. “I stay at my desk most of the time at home,” said Mr. Gelsinger. “There are a bunch of cases where the desktop is just a better tool.” Intel, which sells chips for all types of personal computers, is seeing this kind of behavior more widely, he said.

2 in desktop shipments this year, said it saw particularly strong desktop demand from commercial customers, as businesses called employees back to the workplace and ordered them new computers. Compared to the year-ago period, the company’s desktop shipments were up 41% in the second quarter and about 18% in the most recent quarter, per IDC data.

Danielian Associates, an architecture firm based in Southern California, hired five people during the pandemic and brought its nearly 40-person staff back into office in May, President John Daniels said. He said the firm ordered about half a dozen desktops this year to run power-hungry graphics programs. “It doesn’t make sense to try to get that type of power on a laptop,” Danielian said.

Apple desktop sales have also jumped this year. The company began taking orders for its latest iMac desktop computer in April. It comes equipped with a chip that enables superior performance, a 24-inch screen and what the company is calling the best camera and sound system ever in an iMac.

According to IDC data, in the quarter in which the new iMac went on sale, Apple’s desktop shipments grew by about 23%, and more than 60% over the subsequent three-month period. Apple said that people who are working from home need bigger screens and more power.

Lenovo Group Limited has shipped the most number of desktops worldwide this year as per IDC data. Sanjeev Menon, general manager of Lenovo’s desktop business, said the pandemic demand prompted the company to focus on improving audio quality and noise suppression on desktops.

IDC’s Mr Ubrani said global chip shortages have also boosted desktop shipments this year. Some laptops have gone out of stock, and computer makers have said they have preferred shipments of more expensive ones that are more attractive, making desktops an attractive, cheaper option.

The desktop resurgence is expected to have its limits. IDC estimates that global desktop shipments will fall 10% by 2025 and are not projected to return to pre-pandemic levels. Still, don’t expect the desktop to disappear entirely.

“There There will be desktops forever,” said Intel’s Mr. Gelsinger.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed