Global PC supply issues forecast to resolve by mid-year

Global PC supply and manufacturing issues are forecast to be resolved by the middle of the year, assuming no more supply disruptions take place. 

This is according to research firm IDC, which claimed that the PC industry is currently grappling with supply issues, particularly with integrated circuits. 

However, the firm said that as demand increases, the pressure for suppliers to increase their capacity is also predicted to rise. Assuming no additional supply disruptions occur, this is expected to lead to a balancing out of PC supply and manufacturing capacity by the middle of 2021. 

"While component shortages will continue to affect the market, we anticipate the supply issues will start to alleviate just after mid-year," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.  

"Consumer demand has also skyrocketed and while this heightened demand will not last beyond 2021, PC shipments are expected to stay well above pre-pandemic levels as consumers continue to shift spending from other categories towards tech and activities such as gaming help drive the market." 

The anticipated balancing of PC supply and manufacturing capability comes as the traditional PC market — defined by IDC as desktops, notebooks and workstations while excluding detachable and slate tablets — is expected to see shipments increase by 18.2 per cent, to 357.4 million units, according to the firm. 

With shipment growth of 12.9 per cent in 2020, IDC claimed the growth from then to 2025 will rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.5 per cent. 

Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, said this growth comes as PC demand is predicted to thrive amid companies figuring out their reopening plans and the establishment of the “new normal”. 

"This is all happening while education backlogs continue to grow and retail channel inventory in many geographies is still well below historical levels," he said.

"IDC estimates the backlog of PC shipments heading into 2021 was large and depending on how long this demand continues there is a strong likelihood we will enter 2022 with an outsized backlog, albeit not as significant as current levels." 

IDC’s forecast comes less than a week after analysis from research firm Canalys, which claimed the bulk of this year’s PC market growth is expected to occur in the first six months of the year due to unfulfilled demand. 

However, Canalys research director Rushabh Doshi said the uncertainty around supply and distribution has resulted in the firm's prediction of only 8 per cent year-on-year growth in the PC market, which it considers to consist of desktops, notebooks and tablets, with the first two product categories including desktop workstations and mobile workstations, respectively.