New Delhi, Oct 13 (IANS): The global PC market saw annual growth drop to 5 per cent in Q3 2021, with shipments of desktops and notebooks, including workstations settling at 84.1 million units, according to a new Canalys report.

Despite the reduction in growth, volumes remain at a remarkably high level, given how strong the industry performed in Q3 2020. As a result, the PC market has undergone a two-year CAGR of 9 per cent from Q3 2019. Despite high demand, PC business suffered a series of blows, making it extremely hard to facilitate supply.

Vendors and channel partners are still having difficulty fulfilling orders as backlogs persist. Notebooks and mobile workstation shipments grew 3 per cent year-on-year to hit 67.4 million units, while shipments of desktops and desktop workstations rose 12 per cent to 16.6 million units.

"The shortfall in supply of PCs is expected to last well into 2022, with the holiday season of this year set to see a significant portion of orders not met. Vendors able to manage this period of operational upheaval by diversifying production and distribution and having better visibility of orders to prioritize device allocation will be equipped to ride out the storm," Canalys senior analyst Ishan Dutt said in a statement.

Of the top five PC vendors, all but one continued to post-shipment volume growth in Q3 2021. Lenovo led the market with 19.8 million units shipped, for a modest increase of 2.5 per cent year-on-year. HP maintained the second position, but underwent a 5.7 per cent decline, with a drop off in Chromebook shipments to the US playing a major role in the downslide.

Third-placed Dell was the big winner, posting the highest growth at 26.7 per cent with over 15 million units shipped and a market share gain of over 3 per cent from a year ago. Apple and Acer rounded out the top five with healthy growth of 14.4 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively, with the former also enjoying a market share gain.