Despite the pandemic and resulting economic crisis, the worldwide PC and tablet market is expected to grow by 3.3 percent to 425.7 million units in 2020, according to IDC.

The resurgence in demand is driven by work from home and at home education needs, plus some additional buying for entertainment purposes.

Compared to an usually strong PC market because of Windows 7 end-of-support transition in 2019, this year’s growth is all the more impressive.

“Consumers have been stuck at home, unable to spend on restaurants, movies, and other day-to-day activities. Technology has been the big winner in all of this as device spending has been especially surprising, with spend at year-end, holiday-like levels throughout much of the second quarter,” said David Myhrer, Research Vice President of IDC’s Consumer Technology Strategy Service.

Dip in 2021

However, the growth is not expected to be sustainable in 2021. IDC predicts that the market will dip in 2021 as businesses and consumers continue to deal with the economy uncertainty brought on by the pandemic.

The long-term prognosis is also gloomy, with a forecasted compound annual growth rate of -2.2 percent as shipment falls to 389.6 million units in 2024.