2022 Personal Computer Market Shares: Who Rules the (Digital) World?

Updated · Oct 20, 2022

Name a person who can do without an electronic device or an internet connection. We bet you can’t!

We certainly aren’t able to. Be it for work, school, or leisure, computers, and the internet are a constant part of our daily life.

They are so intertwined with our lives that most of them wouldn’t be possible without any of the two.

Today, we shall focus on the former.

Partially because they are so central to our existence, partially because personal computer market shares are currently so high that they caught our attention.

So to get the full picture, we’ve looked at PCs’ recent past, today, and future. Care to join us for the ride?

Compelling Facts About the Personal Computers Industry (Editor’s Choice):

  • “Classic” PCs have a combined market share of 91%.
  • Apple computers only own 9% of the market share.
  • There were 341,053,000 computer shipments in 2021.
  • In Q1 2021, there was a 32% PC shipment increase.
  • Shipments only rose by 1% in Q3 2021.
  • Estimates forecast an 8.5% CAGR of the global PC market until 2025.
  • In Q1 2022, Lenovo’s worldwide market share was 23.6%.
  • A personal computer costs at least $500.

PC Industry

The PC industry is rapidly changing and its component prices are shaking. Here are a few essential facts on that before we dive deeper and focus on the PC market share in 2022.

1. A PC will now cost you at least $300.

(Source: Fortunly)

(Source: medCPU)

Though, if you get lucky and find a good offer for a used PC, this number may go down. Otherwise, even the lowest price of a computer in 2022 that’s at a somewhat reasonable state is about $300. If you think that’s much, know that more powerful computers tend to cost $2,000 and up.

The majority of the market consists of computers between $500 and $1,000. That’s true particularly for laptops, as they’re usually the driving force. Mid-range laptops are well-rounded and most likely to grow—they’re expected to have the highest number of customers by 2025.

2. MacBooks, Asus Vivobooks, and the MSI P65 Creator are some of the best computers for marketing.

(Source: Laptopified)

Marketing may not be the most hardware-heavy task, though it does require a device with more RAM and a better CPU (for multitasking, of course). Moreover, why not get the best laptop money can offer?

It’s a profitable, lucrative business, and just like any other, it flows more smoothly on a solid computer.

Apple has some pretty strong candidates, even though it’s not the best in PC technologies. Macbooks are expensive but at least they offer a fantastic display, good keyboard, speed, and convenience to carry.

If you’re into Windows, the MSI P65 Creator may be more up your alley. Though this option is a bit more expensive, so if the price is an issue, an Asus Vivobook may be a good budget alternative.

PC Market

Computers are among the things that make the world go round. The size of their market proves this without a doubt. So here’s what you ought to know about their shipments, sales, and vendors.

3. Lenovo, HP, and Dell are the three most prominent personal computer vendors.

(Source: Statista)

The beauty of buying a PC is that you can do it in a multitude of ways—you can always upgrade, downgrade, switch components, or even buy a premade one.

Laptops (usually premade) seem to keep stealing the show. Right now, the biggest names you gotta know were Lenovo, HP, and Dell. These three alone contribute over 60% of the Q1 2022 computer market share!

Asus and Acer are other prominent manufacturers, dividing up 7.2% and 7.1%, respectively, of the Q1 2022 market share. What’s amusing is that the market is so huge that even companies like these are in the back row.

4. PC shipping saw a 32% rise in Q1 2021.

(Source: Gartner)

Approximately 69.9 million PCs were shipped in the first three months of 2021 alone.

Gartner, who has performed personal computers industry analysis since 2000, was happy to report such fascinating stats. They also shared that this was the fastest year-over-year growth rate so far.

The most significant factor for this increase is the Coronavirus pandemic, of course. It locked up many people, which drove up the demand for PCs. Mikako Kitagawa, Gartner’s research director, also listed the semiconductor shortage as a reason for such a jump.

5. On the other side, PC shipments only rose by 1% in Q3 2021.

(Source: Gartner)

83,286,000 shipments marked Q3 2020, while just 84,147,000 in Q3 2021. That’s barely a 1% increase. What gives? The pandemic was still present, but now there are vaccines—it was in 2021 when they became easier to obtain. That moved people back into the great outdoors again, decreasing the need for a computer.

Finally, with the shortage in full effect, deliveries were months late. That could’ve prevented people from wanting to invest in a PC.

6. 2021 ended with 341,053,000 shipments, 15% more than 2020.

(Source: Canalys)

There were 297,614,000 shipments at the end of 2020. That means that the annual sales of desktop computers jumped by 15% in 2021.

A booming first shipment quarter of 2021 was met with a disappointing third quarter. And yet, despite the latter, this is the biggest total number since 2012! Q4 2021 wasn’t entirely bad either—shipments alone made $70 billion, 11% more than Q4 2020.

So if we do the math, we can see that 2021’s total shipment revenue was $250 billion. This is another 15% increase, as the 2020 income was $220 billion.

2022 PC Market Share

As you’ve probably noticed, most of the previous stats are from 2021. So let’s check how these are transferred to 2022.

7. All personal computer market shares equal 91%.

(Source: Statista)

You already know that Lenovo, HP, and Dell’s combined market shares exceed 60%. Acer and Asus, on the other hand, only add 14.3% to the equation. But what about all other computer vendors? All the smaller ones make up a market share of 14.8%.

In Q1 2022, the total PC market share equaled 91%. You probably already know where the remaining nine percent went.

8. Apple’s Q1 2022 computer market share is 9%.

(Source: Statista)

Apple is famous for basically everything it does. Despite that, its computers aren’t used that much. They’re an excellent choice for graphic designers and video editors, but most other people seem to avoid them. Why is that? Many simply find them too expensive. Also, they can’t be modified as quickly and don’t support a chunk of today’s software.

For better or worse, 9% is the most significant market share Apple has had thus far. The global PC market is used to Windows operating systems, though it seems to be making way for alternatives.

9. In Q1 2022, Lenovo’s worldwide market share was 23.6%.

(Source: Statista)

Lenovo started leading the big three back in 2012. Since then, it has lost the lead to HP only for a few quarters. Let’s get specific:

In Q1 2022, Lenovo’s PC market share was 23.6%, while HP and Dell were trailing behind at 20.5% and 17.7%, respectively. For the record, HP last overtook Lenovo in Q1 2018.

Lenovo laptops are hard to beat mainly because of their excellent price-to-quality ratio. Their design and overall performance are superb as well. They’ve just been so dominant lately that we just can’t see the rampage stop any time soon!

PC Market Growth

Now that we’ve covered both past and present, we’re left only with the future. Here’s how much computers will grow over time.

10. The industrial PC market has an expected CAGR of 6%.

(Source: IMARC)

Out of all PCs, industrial ones have to be among the less-known sorts. As their name suggests, they’re used in some of the biggest industries out there (e.g., healthcare, energy, and automotive). They are extremely powerful and can run in circumstances where “usual” computers cannot.

During the 2021-2026 period, experts predict their CAGR (compound annual growth rate) to be somewhere around 6%.

11. The PC market’s CAGR is predicted at 8.5% by 2025.

(Source: Business Wire)

Personal computers industry analysis by Business Wire reported the 2021 CAGR was 11.1%. The year was great for the industry, so reports like this aren’t at all surprising. What are the projections, though?

Some claim that the PC market will grow by 8.5% steadily, year over year. In other words, its worth should increase by at least $60 billion by 2025. Others are not so optimistic. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Mac vs. PC Market Share

Whether you’re a PC or a Mac fan, you’ll want to hear about these facts.

Especially if you’re a fan of both or consider switching from one system to another.

12. In 2021, the US Mac market share was 15%.

(Source: Gartner)

We’ve already mentioned that Macs owned 9% of the PC market share worldwide. What’s the situation in the US, though? Here, Apple is way more popular, as it’s obvious by its bigger market share—6% bigger, to be precise.

3,240,000 out of all 21,548,000 computers shipped in Q3 2021 were Apple’s. Likewise, in Q1 2021, more than 2 million computers of all 13.5 million shipped proudly wore Apple’s logo.

13. At the end of 2021, Apple was the best-performing personal computer vendor.

(Source: Canalys)

Apple computers were always trailing behind Lenovo, HP, and Dell. Is that about to change, though?

Macs did exceptionally well in 2021, as their Q4 2021 growth alone was 9%! If we take a look at the entire year, we’ll see Apple grew by an impressive 28.3%, which was way more than all other vendors! Acer took second place with 21.8%, Dell was third with 18%.

14. Apple also grew twice as fast as all vendors combined.

(Source: Canalys)

Combining Apple’s year-on-year growth with all other brands decreases the growth percentage to 14%. In other words, Apple grew twice as fast as all other vendors (yes, even the top three).

Even though Mac vs. PC sales may suggest otherwise, Apple’s position in the PC market is no longer a laughable matter.

Wrap Up

Computers are such an essential item now that even if their market didn’t receive such common upgrades, they would still thrive. This way, contrary to all the pessimists out there, personal computer market shares will keep growing in the years to come. Just mark our words and see for yourself.

The latest events (pandemic, remote work, digitalization all around, etc.) are nothing but firm proof of these words.

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Nick Galov
Nick Galov

Unaware that life beyond the internet exists, Nick is poking servers and control panels, playing with WordPress add-ons, and helping people get the hosting that suits them.