IT market research agency IDC has shared the forecast for PC and notebook industry for 2016 and 2017.
The global PC industry fell 2.1 percent in 2014 and dropped 10.6 percent in 2015.
IDC said the worldwide PC industry will record 5.4 percent dip in 2016 and 1.1 percent decrease in 2017 due to several reasons. Global PC vendors include HP, Dell, Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, etc. AMD and Intel are riding on the success of the PC industry.
The impact of falling commodity prices and foreign currencies has depressed demand, and the ability to upgrade older hardware to Windows 10 has provided an option to further stretch the life of older PCs.
The global PC industry will decline 5.4 percent in 2016, said the market research agency. IDC has also reduced the outlook for later years by about a percent. PC industry will technically touch positive growth in 2018 and stabilize volume, though not avoiding small declines in particular quarters and years.
Though competition from tablets in general has diminished, with volume falling 10 percent in 2015, the detachable tablet market was invigorated with new large-screen models targeting PC replacements. The volume of these products more than doubled in 2015, though that was still under 6 percent of PC volume.
Combining detachable tablets with PCs, the market will decline about a percent in 2016, and volume would remain well below peak PC shipments from 2011, but the market would return to low-single-digit growth beyond 2016.
Ultraslim and convertible notebooks are expected to grow substantially by 2020, with convertibles more than doubling and ultraslim increasing by over 70 percent while all-in-one desktop volume will increase by more than a third over the same time.
Volume of notebooks with screens smaller than 14 inches will continue to grow, as will lower-priced PCs. The largest PC vendors are well positioned to consolidate share – and can grow if they leverage these product trends.
IDC says SMB and education segments are expected to do better than the overall market. “IT access for students remains a priority, and will drive projects across regions – though constrained government spending may limit some projects,” said Jay Chou, research manager, Worldwide PC Tracker at IDC.
Arya MM
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