New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS): Worldwide PC shipments totaled 84.1 million units in the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 1 per cent from the third quarter of 2020, a new report revealed on Thursday.

According to Gartner, as Covid-19 vaccines become more widely available, consumer and educational spending began to shift away from PCs to other priorities, slowing momentum in the market.

"As many schools worldwide reopened, there was no longer an immediate need for PCs and Chromebooks to support at-home education," Mikako Kitagawa, research director at Gartner said in a statement.

The top three vendors in the worldwide PC market remained unchanged year-over-year, with Lenovo maintaining the number 1 spot in shipments.

After five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, Lenovo's growth was tempered in the third quarter of 2021. Lenovo saw growth in all regions except Japan, where shipments declined by over 50 per cent, as a government program in the region to purchase PCs for educational use largely came to an end.

HP experienced its second consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline, driven by a 30 per cent decrease in shipments in the US due to the weakening Chromebook demand in the education segment.

After lagging early in the pandemic, Dell recorded strong results in the third quarter of 2021, notching its fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth and reaching over 15 million shipments for the first time ever. Dell's limited focus in the consumer market helped the company to be less impacted by slowed consumer PC demand.

Apple still managed to achieve 7.4 per cent growth despite a weak consumer market. The company's M1-based PCs have been well received by the user community, driving increased shipments.

However, anticipating a potential product refresh in coming months, some Apple buyers have put laptop purchases on hold, which negatively affected 3Q21 shipment volumes.