Pandemic Consumers Renewing ‘Personal Relationship’ With PCs: NPD's Baker
The computer is “personal again,” blogged NPD Vice President-Technology Stephen Baker, borrowing on an old HP tagline to describe the current boom in laptop sales as work-from-home and remote-learning connectivity tools. Though the “remarkable move” to the smartphone “eclipsed” the personal connection to the computer, “I believe we have all rediscovered this concept in the last six months and renewed our personal relationship with our PC,” he said Thursday.
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Baker spent early September taking in the virtual product announcements of new computing devices based on Intel’s 11th-generation processors and Nvidia’s Ampere next-gen graphics cards, he said. “The real theme running through all of this news is the rebirth in value, interest, and demand for the computer among consumers. As consumers reinvest in PCs we are seeing the industry do the same, with impressive results.”
As the global pandemic “restricted our ability to gather in person” for work and school, “many of us have turned to technology to keep us connected,” said Baker. Total PC sales in the U.S. March through August increased 42% from the same 2019 period, including a 46% jump in notebooks, according to NPD retail-tracking point-of-sale data, he said. Windows laptops increased by at least 40% for six straight months, he said. Chromebooks were up at least 60% a month in that period, he said. Average selling prices for Chromebooks exceed $300, he said. Windows notebook ASPs “regularly” are above $575.
Consumer laptop purchase intent “doesn’t appear to be waning,” said Baker. A “consistent” 15% proportion of Americans NPD canvassed the past three months said they intend to buy a notebook in the next month, he said. More than half the intended buyers said their plans called for adding another notebook for their home, not replacing an existing one, he said. “The intended use for that new PC has remained not on specific tasks, but on a broad range of activities such as education, entertainment, and productivity that make the computer unique to the individual.”
NPD forecasts U.S. PC sales growth will continue into the holiday quarter and beyond, said Baker. Expect Q4 sales to increase 49% from the 2019 quarter and another 20% in Q1 2021 from a year earlier, he said. July laptop imports increased 19.1% from July 2019 (see 2009070001) and were up 15% in the second quarter (see 2008090002). Baker and other experts surmise the recent imports spike was to support Q4 retail promotions and the expected surge in holiday demand.
The “demands of modern life,” whether pandemic-driven or based on a look-ahead to post-COVID-19 connectivity requirements, “are going to build on the recognition by consumers of the need for, and personal nature of, the PC,” said Baker. “This is the time for the PC ecosystem to reinforce that,” through product branding, features and pricing that resonate with consumers, he said.