Business Casual: Will a Rise in Q2 PC Shipments Endure the Recession and Pandemic?

Powered by RedCircle

In April, CNBC reported that due to disruptions in supply chains caused by the coronavirus outbreak, global sales of PCs in the first quarter 2020 suffered a sharp slump, with only 51.6 million PC units shipped in the first three months of the year. That figure was down 12.3% from the previous year and marked the biggest fall in shipments since 2013. However, despite the economic slowdown, recent reports from leading research, market intelligence and advisory firms, Gartner and IDC, paint a much more positive picture for the second quarter of this year. IDC reports global shipments hitting 72.3 million units, an increase of 11.2% from the same quarter in 2019. Gartner, on the other hand, reports just 64.8 million units shipped—a less optimistic rise of 2.8% from Q2 last year. This disparity in shipments may be due to the fact that Gartner didn’t include Chromebooks in its reporting while IDC did. Both companies, though, agree that specific variables can be attributed to this resurgence of PC shipments, including students and businesses who have had to adapt to learning and working remotely.

On this Business Casual segment, MarketScale co-hosts Tyler Kern and Daniel Litwin discuss:

  1. Whether the escalation of shipments will be transitory or prolonged as the global recession and pandemic looms indefinitely
  2. How manufacturers and businesses will react to this information
  3. If consumers will opt for PCs over mobile moving forward
  4. And much more!

Every week, Business Casual brings topics to the forefront that affect the technology sector and other B2B industries. Tune in each Wednesday and Friday to stay abreast of the trends and news shaping our world today.

Be sure to subscribe to our industry publication for the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Software and Technology Industry.

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

personal branding
Personal Branding Now Drives B2B Success, Customer Trust, and Competitive Advantage
December 5, 2025

Personal branding has rapidly shifted from a “nice-to-have” to a strategic imperative in B2B marketing, reshaping how companies communicate, differentiate, and build trust. As industries evolve and professionals take on more dynamic, multi-stream careers, visibility and authenticity have become critical assets. Key findings from the Edelman + LinkedIn Thought Leadership Impact Report show that…

Read More
IT
Real-World IT Practices Are Streamlining AV Deployments and Raising the Bar for Consistency
December 4, 2025

For years, the AV industry has discussed the long-anticipated convergence with IT—but that shift is no longer theoretical. With cloud adoption accelerating, hybrid work normalizing, and organizations rebuilding digital infrastructure after years of rapid change, AV systems now sit squarely on the IT backbone. In fact, the majority of newly upgraded conference rooms require network-centric…

Read More
ROI
ROI Case Study
December 3, 2025

Denials are no longer a slow leak in the revenue cycle—they’re a fast-moving, rule-shifting game controlled by payers, and hospitals that don’t model denial patterns in real time end up budgeting around losses they could have prevented. PayerWatch’s four-digit, client-verified ROI in 2024 shows what happens when a hospital stops reacting claim by…

Read More
coverage
Clip 2 – Fighting for Coverage: One Patient’s Story
December 3, 2025

Health insurers love to advertise themselves as guardians of care, but the real story often begins when a patient’s life no longer fits neatly into a spreadsheet. In oncology especially, “coverage” isn’t a bureaucratic checkbox—it’s the fragile bridge between a treatment that finally works and a relapse that can undo years of grit…

Read More