Computer penetration rate among households worldwide 2005-2019

In 2019, almost half of private households worldwide were estimated to have a computer at home. In developing countries, the PC penetration rate is lower with around a third of households having a computer. In contrast the share of households with a personal computer in developed countries was closer to 80 percent. In general, the share of households with a computer has steadily increased worldwide as computer usage and internet access is becoming more prevalent around the world.

PC sales declining despite higher penetration

As the share of households with a PC has been on the rise, so too were global PC unit sales have in recent years. This has come despite the still growing popularity and usage of smartphones which some analysts thought would render owning a PC as an additional device superfluous for many people. Segments of the PC market are increasing in sales value more than others: the amount of PC gaming device shipments worldwide is expected to reach over 61 million units by 2020. Worldwide gaming laptop sales alone have reached a revenue of 11 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. The gaming industry drives many innovations in PC design, as personal computers are often used for such focused tasks.

PC utilization

PCs have been used for many activities, such as watching online videos, playing computer games, and completing work tasks. Though computers or laptops are still among the most used devices to watch online videos among users worldwide, smartphones are now used more frequently in many different contexts. One of the advantages of using PCs was its connectivity, as internet usage was possible through the high-speed fixed broadband connections desktop computers offer. Yet now, with the advent of 5G technology, growing mobile broadband might decrease the stationary use of PCs even further.