Lockdowns in New Zealand have had a positive impact on the PC market. With more people working and studying from home due to the pandemic, demand for PCs rose with the market growing 39.7 percent year-on-year (YoY) to nearly 217,000 units in Q2, according to IDC.

Commercial and consumer PC devices grew by 61.5 percent and 13 percent respectively last quarter.

“The commercial market saw huge demand as businesses and students moved into working and learning from home due to lockdowns. The education market drove a large amount of growth, with the Ministry of Education distributing many notebooks to students,” said Liam Landon, Associate Market Analyst of IDC New Zealand.

Notebook sales jumped 61.3 percent while desktops dropped by -11.8 percent.

“Notebooks saw most of the growth as businesses looked to make their fleets more mobile. This meant moving off desktop form factors where possible to allow employees the flexibility to work from the office or from home after lockdowns ended” says Landon.

Strong consumer demand

Consumer demand was strong, though closures of physical retail stores during lockdowns meant shifts towards online channels and limited growth.

“When lockdowns eased, pent up demand was released and resulted in increased purchasing of devices for home use. Consumers looked for notebooks over smartphones or tablets due to the increased productivity they offer, particularly with the movement to online learning,” said Landon.

This led to growth in the consumer market and expectations of continued growth during Q3. Whole families are indoors more frequently and are requiring more devices per person to sate increased device usage.

Branded gaming PCs in demand

Branded gaming PCs saw similar growth as people were trapped inside during lockdowns. Many people turned to gaming to fill time and many consumers decided to refresh their devices.

IDC expects New Zealand’s Traditional PC market to have another strong performance in Q3, with a projected growth of 7.9 percent.

“The consumer market is expected to remain buoyant. However, the commercial market will see slowdowns, particularly within SMBs who are more sensitive to business uncertainty. Notebooks will continue to drive growth as businesses look to create more mobile workforces,” said Landon.