Skip to main content

Savvy Personal Computer Vendors are Agile and Resilient

Personal computer (PC) vendors have a complex market development challenge in 2015 -- learn how to embrace ongoing demand volatility. Worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall by -4.9 percent in 2015, while growth projections for 2016 and 2017 were raised slightly, according to the latest study by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Fourth quarter 2014 (4Q14) results were 1.7 percent ahead of forecast, but economic and product changes will create more challenges in the short term. Total 2015 volume is projected at 293.1 million PCs, slipping a little further to 291.4 million in 2019.

In value terms, the PC market reached $201 billion in 2014 -- that's a decline of -0.8 percent, and is expected to fall another -6.9 percent in 2015 with potentially smaller declines in subsequent years bringing the total to $175 billion by 2019.

Furthermore, while recent processor updates have generated some positive momentum, more significant product refreshes -- such as Intel Skylake and Microsoft Windows 10 -- will be released later in the year, shifting PC buyer interest to later in 2015.

"Fortunately for PC makers, tablet growth has slowed," said Jay Chou, senior research analyst at IDC. "The PC ecosystem has also begun to see some fruits from efforts to narrow the divide between the PC and mobile devices in terms of both user experience and price points."


Emerging markets continue to struggle, finishing 2014 with a decline of 9.5 percent in PC shipments and with 2015 growth projections lowered to -4.7 percent, pushing volume down throughout the forecast.

Competition from other devices -- such as phones, tablets, and wearable tech -- also pose an ongoing challenge to PC spending. Although emerging regions are still expected to see positive growth by 2017, shipment projections remain below 160 million units through 2019, down from 163.7 million in 2014.

Mature regions continued to fare better, ending 2014 with positive growth of 8.4 percent for the year, the first growth year since 2010. This growth was supported by XP system replacements, slowing tablet purchases, and the availability of more lower-cost PC options.

Nevertheless, PC volumes in mature regions are expected to drop by -5.1 percent in 2015, with more incremental declines to follow. That being said, projections for PC volume in mature regions are up slightly to 134 million in 2019 from the prior forecast of 130 million.

IDC believes that the gains in mature regions for 2014 helped to somewhat stabilize the market, but any opportunity for long-term growth depends on reviving the upside in emerging regions, and that currently seems highly unlikely.

Popular posts from this blog

Digital Talent Demand Exceeds Supply in Asia-Pac

Even the savviest CEO's desire for a digital transformation advantage has to face the global market reality -- there simply isn't enough skilled and experienced talent available to meet demand. According to the latest market study by IDC, around 60-80 percent of Asia-Pacific (AP) organizations find it "difficult" or "extremely difficult" to fill many IT roles -- including cybersecurity, software development, and data insight professionals. Major consequences of the skills shortage are increased workload on remaining digital business and IT employees, increased security risks, and loss of "hard-to-replace" critical transformation knowledge. Digital Business Talent Market Development Although big tech companies' layoffs are making headlines, they are not representative of the overall global marketplace. Ongoing difficulty to fill key practitioner vacancies is still among the top issues faced by leaders across industries. "Skills are difficul

How Cloud Fuels Digital Business Transformation

Across the globe, many CEOs invested in initiatives to expand their digital offerings. User experience enhancements that are enabled by business technology were a priority in many industries. Worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is forecast to grow 21.7 percent to a total of $597.3 billion in 2023 -- that's up from $491 billion in 2022, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Cloud computing is driving the next phase of digital transformation, as organizations pursue disruption through technologies like generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), Web3, and enterprise Metaverse. Public Cloud Computing Market Development "Hyperscale cloud providers are driving the cloud agenda," said Sid Nag, vice president at Gartner . Organizations view cloud computing as a highly strategic platform for digital transformation initiatives, which requires providers to offer new capabilities as the competition for digital business escalates. "For example, generativ

Mobile Device Market Still Awaiting Recovery

The mobile devices market has experienced three years of unpredictable demand. The global pandemic, geopolitical pressures, supply chain issues, and macroeconomic headwinds have hindered the sector's consistent growth potential. This extremely challenging environment has dramatically affected both demand and supply chains. It has led to subsequent inflationary pressures, leading to a worsening global cost of living crisis suppressing growth and confidence in the sector. In tandem, mobile device industry stakeholders have become more cautious triggering market uncertainties. Mobile Device Market Development Operating under such a backdrop, the development of mobile device ecosystems and vendor landscapes have been impacted severely. Many of these market pressures persisted throughout 2022 and now into 2023, borne chiefly by the smartphone market. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, worldwide smartphone shipments in 2022 declined 9.6 percent Year-over-Year