While Apple might have gobbled up all the press with its Apple Studio Display, the PC monitor market – driven by Dell, Lenovo, and HP – had a pretty fantastic 2021.
According to a report from IDC, companies shipped an incredible 143.6 million PC monitors in 2021, a 5% rise over the previous year.
Anyone looking for the best PC monitor, probably due to the shift towards hybrid and remote working, likely had a pretty great year, with excellent options available from loads of different brands.
A whole new world
"2021 marked the end of the longest run for monitors, which saw an uninterrupted growth spurt from 2018 to 2021," said IDC's Jay Chou. "Whether it was businesses refreshing PCs and monitors as they moved towards Windows 10 or the pandemic pivot towards work from home, these developments gave a much-needed boost to what had been a staid industry."
"However, we now see growing saturation, inflationary pressures from the pandemic and the Ukrainian crisis further accelerating an already cooling environment in 2022, when we expect monitor shipments to shrink 3.6% and then stabilize after."
Getting the right PC monitor is very, very important – not to mention the best webcam and best USB mic – because we all spend many hours everyday staring at pixels changing colour.
The pandemic, forcing people into upgrading their remote working setup on the fly, led to a huge boon in demand for PC accessories.
The main beneficiary has been Dell, which according to IDC shipped just over 30 million PC monitors in 2021, a 14.5% rise over the previous year, netting it a 21.1% market share.
Following up were Lenovo with 17 million sales for an 11.9% market share, TPV with 16.7 million sales for an 11.7% share, HP with 15 million sales for a 10.5% share, and Samsung with 13.5 million sales for a 9.4% market share.
IDC did sound a warning over 2022 sales, however, as it forecast a 3.6% year-on-year decline as shipments fall in what will be a somewhat saturated market, with the ongoing effects of the pandemic, supply chain shortages, and the Russia-Ukraine war all hurt sales.
