Chinese vendor Centerm took the top spot in thin client devices market in Q4 2022, overtaking longtime leaders Dell and HP.
Global shipments of thin client devices declined 24 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022.
In 2022, shipment of thin client devices shrank 7.9 percent, marking the third consecutive year that thin client shipments contracted, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Client Device Tracker.
Makers of thin client devices are facing ongoing transition towards alternative devices and budgets. The shift in virtual environment access devices has resulted in longer life cycles for thin clients, which tend to be used only at the office.
The decline of North American and European thin client spending has elevated Asia Pacific to be the biggest geographic market for thin clients. Asia Pacific ended 2022 taking 54 percent of the overall thin client device market, in contrast to its 2021 share of 49 percent.
IDC has revised its forecast for the thin client market to better reflect the continued impact of evolving usage models as well as tightening budgets. The global thin client market in 2023 is expected to be flat to around 4.1 million units. In 2024, thin client market is likely to achieve a stronger recovery, coinciding with expected recovery in commercial PCs.
“While the thin client market should rebound in the coming years, we have lowered our forecast due to a even more constrained environment,” said Jay Chou, research manager for IDC’s Worldwide Client Devices Tracker.
“For much of this year, businesses are moving an already shrinking budget away from endpoint devices. We remain hopeful that as enterprise PCs migrate toward Windows 11 next year, the thin client market will also benefit, mirroring historical trends of being refreshed along with PCs.”
