The PC market will recover in 2019 by growing 0.3 percent in desktops, notebooks and two-in-ones shipments — after seven years of decline, a Canalys report said.
An IDC report already indicated that a rise in commercial activity amidst a positive economic environment is expected to strengthen demand for PCs. The retail platform shows signs of stability especially with a fast-growing gaming community adding to the confidence.
The Canalys report offers more confidence to PC market leaders such as HP, Lenovo, Dell,
Acer and Apple to bring out more PC products targeting both the retail and business customers.
Asia Pacific will be a key driver as the PC industry turns to the region in the face of falling demand in Europe and China. PC shipments to Asia Pacific will overtake those to Western Europe by 2021, Canalys said.
Microsoft Windows 10 refresh will continue to be the main driver of commercial demand for PCs in 2019.
“This will be buoyed by strong economic performance and business spend in the United States, the largest PC market in the world, as well as a global push to upgrade on the back of IT security concerns,” said Canalys Chief Analyst Alastair Edwards.
The report said there will be reduction in component supply constraints that have plagued the PC industry. Intel and its partners have admitted that tight supply of 14 nanometer processors will delay PC shipments this year, while DRAM shortages will start to ease toward the end of 2018.
The channel has benefited substantially this year from Windows 10 refresh in the commercial space, both in terms of product sales but also through lucrative professional services opportunities around Windows 10 migration.
This will continue into the first half of 2019. The successful channel partners will focus on generating higher-value revenue streams — consulting, managed desktop and subscription services for applications and security — around PCs.
A Canalys survey of channel partners highlights particular optimism in Asia, with 44 percent of APAC-based respondents expecting to see PC shipment growth in 2019, against 36 percent of EMEA-based respondents.
“Asia Pacific will go from strength to strength and gain importance for the global PC vendors in both the consumer and commercial segments,” said Canalys Analyst Ishan Dutt. “The region’s developed markets, such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, offer growth in emerging segments, such as gaming, Chromebooks and always-connected PCs.”
The booming service industries in the emerging markets of India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand will deliver growth for PCs. The start-up culture in these markets has brought SMBs to the fore, with PC vendors moving to offer them OPEX-based models that help control costs.
