2021 was a very good year for the PC market

If you thought the PC market's pandemic-era renaissance would continue throughout 2021... you guessed correctly. Canalys estimates PC shipments jumped 15 percent year-over-year to 341 million despite supply shortages. Simply put, many of the customers in 2021 were adding new PCs rather than replacing existing ones. Remote students and seniors were purchasing first computers, for example, while multiple systems were "more common" in some areas.

Canalys

Some PC brands had a better time than others, though. Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple and Acer held on to their respective top-five positions in shipments, but Apple and Acer were the shining stars after growing deliveries over 20 percent compared to 2020. Frontrunners Lenovo and HP had the slowest growth of the leaders in 2021, and saw their shipments fall in the very last quarter where other rivals grew. Their size didn't help them capitalize on expanded demand for computers, to put it another way.

It also seems likely that 2022 will be similarly bright. Principal Analyst Rushabh Doshi predicted the new year would be one of "digital acceleration" as people shift toward high-end PCs and accessories that help with remote work. It's too soon to say how accurate that prediction might be, but it coincides with a PC revival we saw at CES competition appears to be as fierce as ever.