The mobile PC or laptop segment did very well, in particular, due to people’s remote learning and working needs. However, both organizations are skeptical that the demand would continue beyond 2020. Kitagawa says the uptick in demand is “short-term… due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.” IDC research vice president Linn Huang issued a similar statement:

“With inventory still back ordered, this goodwill will continue into July. However, as we head deeper into a global recession, the goodwill sentiment will increasingly sour.”

Both organizations also noted that traditional PC shipments exceeded expectations in the US and in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. HP and Lenovo topped the list of PC vendors worldwide, with Dell coming in third for both IDC and Gartner.

A total of 68 million units were shipped this quarter, compared to 67 million units in the third quarter of 2018. Lenovo shipped the most units, with nearly a quarter of the market share, followed by HP and Dell. Brands with less than ten percent market share include Apple, Acer and Asus.

Some companies’ sales grew compared to this time last year, like Lenovo, HP, Dell and Acer. Others were down compared to last year, including Apple and Asus. These numbers include desktop PCs and notebook PCs, but not Chromebooks or iPads.

One big challenge for PC manufacturers has been a shortage of Intel CPUs, but other vendors such as AMD and Qualcomm have moved to fill this gap. Low prices for RAM and SSDs have helped to buoy the industry, and the Windows 10 refresh cycle continues to drive new sales.

“Neither the Intel CPU shortage nor the US-China trade war had a significant impact on PC shipments in the third quarter of 2019,” Mikako Kitagawa, senior principal research analyst at Gartner, wrote in the report. “The Intel CPU shortage has continued to ease, and US tariffs on China-built mobile PCs had a minimal impact on PC shipments as the date for the potential increase in tariffs was pushed out to December 2019.”

IDC and Gartner count shipments slightly differently, but IDC saw “high single-digit” US growth and Gartner saw a slight sales decline stateside. The number of units shipped went up for both desktop and portable PC models, according to IDC. Apple’s MacBook keyboard problems may or may not have affected worldwide shipments, which were flat according to Gartner, and up 9 percent in IDC’s report.

Even the modest gains might not continue, however, the analysts believe. Manufacturers and suppliers have been rushing to get inventory delivered with the threat of additional tariffs looming from the Trump administration.

“While the U.S.-China trade war did not impact the PC market in the second quarter of 2019, the next phase of tariffs could have significant impact,” said Gartner’s Mikako Kitagawa. “Most laptops and tablets are currently manufactured in China and sales of these devices in the U.S. could face significant price increases if the punitive tariffs are imposed and vendors do not take quick action to respond.”