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.

The impact of COVID-19 on smartphone sales was drastic, as market analysts noted shipments worldwide dropped by millions in the last few months. While manufacturers are typically nonspecific about sales numbers, IDC’s Quarterly Mobile Phone tracker noted this was “the largest annual (year over year) decline ever” at about 11.7 percent.

Canalys pegged the worldwide drop in Q1 at 13 percent from last year, while Strategy Analytics saw the numbers plunge by 17 percent. According to Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, “Samsung’s global marketshare is holding steady at over 21 percent, and it remains the world’s top smartphone brand.” That continues to be followed by Huawei and Apple, as all the major manufacturers shared in a hit to their sales. The companies that remained flat or showed growth according to the analysts included Xiaomi and Vivo, owing to strong sales in India where some products launched before lockdowns began.

IDC says new products in the “hearables market” made up almost half of the shipments, driven by people’s need for wireless earphones due to multiple vendors’ decision to ditch the headphone jack. Ramon T. Llamas, research director for IDC’s Wearables Team, explains:

“Hearables have become the new go-to product for the wearables market. This began with multiple vendors removing the headphone jack from their smartphones, driving the move toward wireless headphones. It continued with hearables incorporating additional features that either augment or expand the audio experience. Next, hearables have taken on multiple form factors — ranging from truly wireless to over-the-ear headphones — appealing to a broad base of earwear user preferences. Finally, prices have come down significantly, with some reaching below $20.”

While the availability of more affordable options boosted wearables’ performance, Apple was still responsible for most of the quarter’s shipments. The growing popularity of the AirPods, the Apple Watch and Beats’ heaphones — none of which could be described as “affordable” — put Apple at the top of the list with a 35 percent marketshare (29.5 shipped units). Xiaomi came in at second place after shipping 12.4 million wearables, thanks to its Mi Band lineup, in Q3 2019. Samsung occupies the third place in the list (8.3 million units shipped), thanks to its new watches and earphones like the Galaxy Buds. Meanwhile Huawei and Fitbit came in at fourth and fifth after shipping 7.1 million and 3.5 million devices, respectively