Microsoft product chief Panos Panay said the PC industry's return to growth was durable and the pandemic forced humanity back from a belief that it could do everything on a phone.

Panay said the PC market got a boost as life moved online, but the question for the industry now is whether and how it can keep the momentum going.

 Before the pandemic, many households focused their tech spending on buying bigger TVs and upgrading their cell phones every couple of years, while trying to keep their PCs as long as possible.

COVID-19 saw the PC taking on new life as a tool for remote work, distance learning and staying in touch with friends and family.

That drove the global shipments of laptops and desktops for the last quarter to surpass 90 million for the second year in a row, and sales for the year reached a level not seen since 2012.

 Microsoft reported a 25 per cent growth in the revenue it gets from having Windows installed on new PCs.