The share of United Kingdom households that own a home computer reached a plateau of 88 percent, starting in 2015/16. It wasn’t until 2002/03 that home computers could be found in a majority of households in the United Kingdom, when the rate of ownership jumped from 49 percent to 55 percent.

Changing face of the home computer

Although most households contain a computer, the actual device used is likely to have changed considerably in recent years. In 2010 the majority of households still reported owning a desktop PC or iMac computer, with 52 percent of people owning such a device. By 2018, this rate fell to just 28 percent. Laptops, conversely, have been on the rise, with the penetration rate increasing from 47 percent in 2009, to 63 percent in 2018.

Laptop sales

According to the most recent figures from the United Kingdom (UK) Office for National Statistics (ONS), the sales value of laptops, notebooks and palm-top organizers reached 58.79 billion British pounds in 2017. In that same year, 46 percent of respondents to a Statista survey reported buying a laptop every 3-5 years.

Worldwide, total laptop sales are expected to reach 171 million units in 2023, up from 166 million units in 2019. Desktop sales are expected to contract, from 88.4 million units in 2019, to 79.5 million units by 2023.

In 2023, around 43.8 percent of all Mexican households were equipped with a computer, marginally down from 43.9 percent the previous year. That year, more than 80 percent of all Mexican households had internet access.

The statistic shows the penetration rate of desktop and laptop computers among adults in the United States in 2015, by age group. In 2015, 78 percent of Americans aged between 18 and 29 owned a desktop or laptop computer.

This statistic shows the percentage of teens who reported owning a computer. The statistic allows for comparison of computer ownership between boys and girls in the U.S. in 2018. The survey showed that almost 89 percent of male teen respondents reported owning a computers.

The popularity of stationary computers in Denmark has declined from 49 percent in 2012 to 35 percent of households in 2021. Ownership rate of portable computers in Denmark has increased from 81 percent of the households in 2012 to 88 percent as of 2021. However, the largest ownership rate of portable computers was reached in 2016, with 91 percent of the households.

In 2023, the number of computers per one hundred households in China was 44.5. In China, most web applications were geared towards smartphones, and computers were mainly a device for work. Therefore, the rate was comparably low.

This statistic shows household computer ownership rates in the United States in 2011, broken down by metropolitan area. 67 percent of the U.S. population in rural areas owned a computer in 2011.

This statistic shows the percentage of U.S. teens who reported owning a computer as of 2018. The statistic allows for comparison of computer and tablet ownership amongst teens of different races/ethnicities in the U.S. in 2018. The survey showed that 89 percent of black respondents reported owning a computer, compared to 90 percent of white respondents.

In 2023, the average South Korean household owned approximately 0.50 desktop computers, which was slightly less than the 0.53 from the previous year. In 2009, there had been around 0.8 desktop computers per household. 2022 has also been the year in which the average number of laptops per household surpassed the one of desktop computers.

This statistic displays the share of households with a computer in Estonia between 2007 and 2017. In 2017, 86.9 percent of households owned a computer.

In 2023, approximately 18 percent of all households in Indonesia had a computer at home. In general, the ownership rate of computers remained relatively constant, although the share of people who access the internet is still increasing. This is due to the easier access and the general tendency to go online via a smartphone.

This statistic shows the percentage of teens who reported owning a computer. The statistic allows for comparison of computer ownership amongst teens within different household income brackets in the U.S. as of 2018. The survey showed that 75 percent of respondents with an annual household income of less than 30,000 U.S. dollars owned a computer, while 96 percent of respondents with a parent household income above 75,000 U.S. dollars reported owning a tablet.

In 2021, Venezuela's Capital District, Caracas, was the federal entity with the highest share of households that had a computer, at 47.8 percent. It was followed by Mérida, with a computer ownership rate of 38.4 percent. In comparison, the state with the lowest rate of computer ownership among households was Falcón, with a share of 15.1 percent. More than nine of every ten Venezuelan households live in poverty.

This statistic shows the computer ownership rate among pupils in Sweden in 2016, by gender and age group. Boys have owned computers in a greater extent than girls. 69 percent of girls aged 11 to 13 years have owned a computer that year.

The share of households in Japan that own a personal computer stood at 65.3 percent in 2023. While the household penetration rate of PCs declined in recent years, the household penetration rate of smartphones increased considerably during the same period.

Owning a personal computer was more common among boys than girls in 2020, except for teenagers between 17 and 18 years old. Just over half of the boys aged between nine and ten years owned a computer, compared to 36 percent of the girls in the same age group.

Most of the households in Tanzania did not own a computer in 2020. Around 80 percent of households in the country's urban areas did not have the equipment, a share even higher in rural regions, 96.5 percent. In urban areas, 13 percent of respondents owned a computer, while 5.2 percent belonged to a household in which someone else had the equipment.

According to a survey from 2023, 79 percent of respondents in New Zealand owned a laptop in their household. Ownership of laptops was overall higher than those of desktop PCs and tablets. China had the highest share of respondents that owned a tablet, at 70 percent.

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.

The statistic shows the share of Australians who have a computer at home from 2012 to 2016, by type. In 2013, 66 percent of respondents in Australia said they owned a desktop computer or a PC.