To The Moon

Personal computer shipments in the United States remained on the rise during the second quarter of the year as a market driven by Covid-19 related sales is seen as likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

That's the opinion of tech research firm Canalys, which on Wednesday released its latest statistics on U.S. PC sales. According to Canalys, domestic PC shipments reached 36.8 million units between April and June, a 17% rise from the same period a year ago. Canalys analyst Brian Lynch said that the data suggest there is "a significant refresh opportunity" exists for the leading PC manufacturers.

"The commercial and education segments have exploded, triggering tremendous refresh potential," Lynch said. "The U.S. economy has bounced back well from its pandemic woes and small businesses are recovering, which will lead to a wave of purchasing from the segment."

Notebook PC shipments led the sector's gains, rising 27% from a year ago, while desktop shipments rose by 23% over last year's second quarter. Canalys said tablet shipments were virtually stagnant, rising just 1% from a year ago.

HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ)took the top spot in the U.S., with 8.07 million shipments, and a 20.2% increase over the second quarter of 2020. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), however, fell from its No. 1 position a year ago, as its 7.6 million Mac shipments dipped by almost 3% from a year ago.

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)came in third place, as its shipments grew by 10.5%, to 5.7 million shipments, while Lenovo took fourth place with 4.75 million shipments, a 25.2% gain over last-year's second quarter. Samsung rounded out the top five PC companies, as its 3.04 million shipments surged by more than 51% from a year ago.

Canalys' U.S. data came a day after IDC said it believes worldwide PC sales to grow this year, but at a slower rate than previously expected.