Digital Lifescapes

While it's true that CEOs plan ongoing spending in IT during 2023, it likely won't include a significant investment in end-user computing devices. By and large, digital transformation continues to be driven by software advances. Worldwide shipments of total end-user computing devices are projected to decline by 4.4 percent in 2023, to a total of 1.7 billion units, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Note, in 2022, the devices market already declined by 11.9 percent. "The depressed economic market will continue to dampen demand for devices throughout 2023. In fact, end-user spending on devices is projected to decline 5.1 percent in 2023," said Ranjit Atwal, senior director at Gartner . End-User Computing Market Development Just as business confidence was beginning to recover after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has now fallen significantly in most regions. Moreover, Gartner doesn't expect relief from inflation and the bottom of the recession to...

The global pandemic changed how organizations provide information technology (IT) solutions for their knowledge worker and front-line employees that require access to software applications while working from home. It also accelerated the delivery of online education. To ensure access to those distributed IT use cases, traditional desktop and notebook PCs coexist with media tablets, Chromebooks, and a variety of smartphone devices. This device diversity also created the demand for better management. The second quarter of 2021 (2Q21) was another strong quarter for both Chromebooks and media tablets with both device categories recording growth despite a challenging year-over-year comparison. Unified Endpoint Management Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), Chromebook shipments grew 68.6 percent year-over-year with volumes reaching 12.3 million units. While this wasn't a record quarter for Chromebooks, it wasn’t far o...

Across the globe, the demand for personal computers (PCs) has declined significantly over the last couple of years, as both consumers and businesses invest in other devices. According to one industry analyst, that historically bleak view may be coming to an end. The worldwide PC market will likely experience a slight recovery in 2019, with shipments of desktops, notebooks and two-in-ones set for 0.3 percent growth -- that's after seven years of ongoing declines. Personal Computer Market Development The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region will be a key driver as vendors turn to the market in the face of falling demand within Europe and China. PC shipments to APAC will overtake those to Western Europe by 2021. "Microsoft Windows 10 refresh will continue to be the main driver of commercial demand for PCs in 2019," said Alastair Edwards, chief analyst at Canalys . "This will be buoyed by strong economic performance and business spend in the United States, the largest PC m...

The global adoption of public cloud computing services, the increased performance of smartphones and the demand for Chromebooks continue to negatively impact the rest of the consumer electronics market and to a somewhat lesser degree the enterprise IT marketplace. Results for the second quarter of 2018 (2Q18) showed shipments of traditional personal computers (PCs) totaled 62.3 million units -- that's a year-on-year growth of just 2.7 percent, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). While it's a relatively small improvement, it's actually better than IDC's initial forecast of 0.3 percent growth. Personal Computing Market Development Although helped to some extent by a weak second quarter in 2017, which was somewhat impacted by key component issues, the 2Q18 results reversed the trend from the previous three quarters, which had the market hovering slightly above or below flat growth. Business volume appeared to be t...

Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments totaled 62.2 million units in the first quarter of 2017 -- that's a 2.4 percent decline from the first quarter of 2016, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Moreover, it's the first time since 2007 that shipments fell below 63 million units in one quarter. That said, the PC industry experienced modest growth in the business market, but this was offset by declining consumer demand. Some people will refrain from replacing older PCs, and others have abandoned the PC market altogether. Gartner's study did not include Chromebooks, which are in greater demand. Regardless, Garner has emphasized that the business segment of the market still considers the PC as an important device, and it's the main work computer device for many businesses. Personal Computer Market Development "While the consumer market will continue to shrink, maintaining a strong position in the business market will be critical to keep sustain...

Global consumer electronics vendors experienced a challenging environment in 2016, due to the shift in product preferences of savvy buyers. With the exception of Chromebooks, the personal computing category has not had the market demand or device shipments that could sustain the vendors. Case in point; consumer spending during the holiday quarter of 2016 was clearly not aimed at consuming media tablets, as the market continued its downturn. The fourth quarter of 2016 (4Q16) marked the ninth consecutive quarter that tablet shipments have declined. Media Tablet Market Development Vendors shipped 52.9 million tablets in the fourth quarter, which was a decline of 20.1 percent from the same quarter one year ago, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC) . Similarly, shipments of 174.8 million units for the full year 2016 were down 15.6 percent compared to 2015 -- marking the second straight year of declining shipments of media tablets...

Personal computer (PC) vendors will remember 2016 as yet another year where their hopes for a market growth recovery failed to materialize. Worldwide PC shipments are forecast to decline by 6.4 percent in 2016, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Ironically, this is considered an improvement over an earlier projection for a decline of 7.2 percent in 2016. While the current IDC outlook (subject to change) for 2017 is at -2.1 percent year-over-year decline, the absolute volumes are likely to be slightly higher based on stronger 2016 shipments. PC Market Development Trends The third quarter of 2016 (3Q16) saw a year-over-year decline in shipments of 4.6 percent, more than 2 percentage points ahead of expectations. The 3Q16 market gains were due in part to momentum in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, and are driven by channel build up in anticipation of component shortages. This inventory accumulation is expected to s...

As more people around the globe discover that they don't need a personal computer (PC) to participate in the Global Networked Economy, the market for smartphones and phablets has satisfied the demand for internet access and web browsing. This is now the pervasive trend worldwide. Besides, the ongoing adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps meant that mainstream users learned what has become common knowledge -- just about anything you need to accomplish can be done in the cloud. The impact of this disruptive trend on traditional PC manufacturers has been devastating. "The global PC market had a bad start to 2016 and it is difficult to see any bright spots for vendors in the coming quarters. The tablet boom has faded in the distance and the market is fully mature. Global shipments declines are expected to continue unless vendors bring some remarkable new innovation to the market," said Tim Coulling, senior analyst at Canalys . Market Declines Dominate the PC Lan...

The outlook for personal computer (PC) shipments continues to improve slightly, as competition from other devices eases in some markets, upgrades to new models boost demand, and economic conditions around the world stabilize or improve somewhat. But many challenges still remain. The decline in PC volume since early 2012 is expected to linger throughout 2016, with later years offering few opportunities to boost volumes as economic issues and other consumer electronic products sap the growth potential, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). In the near-term, expectations for PC growth within the fourth quarter of 2015 and early 2016 were already fairly low, as notebook computers have struggled with competition from very capable media tablets and feature-rich smartphones or phablets. The impact of falling commodity prices and foreign currencies has further depressed demand, and the ability to upgrade older hardware to Windows 10 or Linux has pr...

According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, 163 million notebook personal computers (PCs) shipped globally during 2015. The majority of shipments were laptop computers, which constituted nearly 80 percent of the category. The data suggests that, despite a common belief that it will only be a matter of time before PCs meet their demise, the market still has pockets of growth where demand remains strong. That being said, it continues to evolve -- overall shipment volumes have not recovered from prior peaks. As a result, expectations have been lowered. "Industry experts greatly exaggerated the death of the PC," says Jeff Orr, research director at ABI Research . Personal Computer Market Development Trends ABI analysts now believe that the PC platform is improving by incorporating designs to provide flexibility for productivity purposes, while also adapting its shape to support tablet-like, touch-screen applications. Low-cost Chromebooks and high-cost...

If there's a 'new-rule' the consumer electronics and PC industry learned from the successful rise of low-cost Chromebooks in the global marketplace, it's that less product capabilities can equate to significant new upside market opportunity. With the recent introduction of the compute stick form-factor -- such as ASUS Chromebit, Intel Compute Stick, and Lenovo Ideacentre Stick 300 -- key players in the PC sector have uncovered yet another gap in which existing devices are sub-optimal for specific use cases. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, compute stick shipments are forecast to top 5 million units by 2021. Truly, this would be a meaningful accomplishment, when you consider the other potential growth alternatives. "With 2015 concluding compute stick's first full year of shipments, we anticipate the devices to show an impressive CAGR of 49 percent between 2015 and 2021 as the ecosystem continues to grow," said Jeff Orr, ...

Demand for mobile devices also drives the associated software upside potential. Recent estimates show that 1.74 billion smartphones, media tablets, two-in-one PCs and notebooks shipped in 2015 -- that's a year-on-year increase of 5 percent, according to the the latest worldwide market study by Canalys. Growth was driven by two-in-ones and smartphones, while tablets and notebooks declined. According to the Canalys analyst assessment, Microsoft has experienced the greatest challenge from the pivotal shift to mobility. Its share of the total mobility market was just 12 percent, against Google (Alphabet) at 70 percent and Apple at 17 percent. Shipments of mobility products running the Linux-based operating system (OS) increased by over 200 percent. This was primarily driven by YunOS shipments, which became the third largest smartphone platform in China within the fourth quarter of 2015. In the notebook PC space, there are similar shifts in the OS landscape. Open Source OS Ga...

The Personal Computer (PC) market has been very volatile for several years. Meanwhile, each new year an industry analyst predicts a small recovery, but the forecast results fail to materialize. We've seen this cycle of refutal over and over again. Case in point: worldwide PC shipments totaled 71.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015 (4Q15), reaching a year-on-year decline of -10.6 percent, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC ). Although total shipments were similar to analyst expectations, 2015 still ended as the first year below 300 million units since 2008. The holiday quarter achieved a small boost compared to the prior quarter, but the year-on-year decline in 2015 shipments was the largest in history -- surpassing the decline of -9.8 percent in 2013. The PC market continued to face persistent challenges from longer-PC lifecycles and competition from mobile phones and media tablets, despite the slowing growth in those markets...

Looking back on 2015, the personal computer industry had yet another period of transition, as most vendors either missed the shifting market demand or they had products that were perceived as obsolete. That said, the low-cost high-value Chromebook category actually gained new momentum in the market. In its recent report on notebook PCs, ABI Research analyzed current market trends in Chromebooks, laptops and ultraportable PCs and offered a forward-looking, five-year forecast on industry trends. Chromebooks will continue to lead growth for the notebook PC category, with Google Chrome OS systems (based upon Linux) expected to ship more than 8 million units by the end of 2015, increasing with a 22 percent CAGR over the next five years. "Industry professionals can expect the notebook PC market, including Chromebooks, laptops and ultraportable PCs, to remain roughly flat year-on-year in 2015, with flat to slightly positive growth projected through 2020," says Jeff Orr, resear...

The personal computing (PC) market is a source of concern for most of the established consumer electronics vendors, where chromebooks and 2-in-1 tablet devices seem to be the only bright spots for an upside. That being said, this is an opportune time for someone to introduce a breakthrough product concept. Meanwhile, the downward slide continues. Worldwide PC shipments totaled nearly 71 million units in the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15), according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). This volume represented a year-on-year decline of -10.8 percent -- that's slightly worse than projections for a decline of -9.2 percent. Across many regions, the PC channel remained focused on clearing out the old Windows 8 inventory, before a more complete portfolio of models incorporating Windows 10 and Intel Skylake processors comes on the scene. While Windows 10 has generally received favorable reviews and raised consumer interest in PCs, IDC believes t...

Personal computing device requirements are shifting across the globe, creating challenges for consumer electronics vendors who must respond to these evolving trends. Cloud computing adoption has contributed to the shift in demand, with pervasive mobile internet access being the enabler. The worldwide installed base of media tablets will become the next casualty of global market saturation, as shipments of the expensive larger slate devices continue their ongoing decline. Early media tablet sales in 2010 and 2011 enjoyed several good years of consumer usage with both Apple iOS and Google Android devices actively used for three to four years. New market intelligence data from ABI Research predicts the installed base of tablets will decrease for the first time in 2016 -- as growth from first-time buyers shifts to limited replacement purchases. "The global installed base of branded tablets will peak around 373 million units at the close of 2015," said Jeff Orr, Research D...

Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments are expected to fall by -8.7 percent in 2015 and not stabilize until 2017 at the earliest, according to the the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). According to the IDC assessment, the latest PC forecast has growth declining further through 2016 -- which will now amount to five continuous years of declining shipments. Growth should resume in 2017, led by the commercial market, while consumer volume continues a small decline through the end of the forecast period in 2019. Although IDC had expected the second quarter of 2015 to be a transition period, final results nonetheless shrank even more than expected due to the ongoing large inventory of notebook PCs from prior quarters and severe constraints posed by the decline of major currencies relative to the U.S. Dollar. In addition to economic issues, free upgrades of Windows 10, a relative dearth of newer models in the short term, and distribution channe...

The personal computing (PC) market has now undergone numerous attempts to stimulate a high-growth revival, without success. Back in March of 2014, I shared a market update entitled " Final Closure: End of the Wintel Era is Now Undeniable ." To some market observers, that perspective may seem overly pessimistic. And yet, here we are in August of 2015 and the outlook doesn't appear to have materially changed. Granted, there's some pent-up demand that exists in the PC marketplace, but the real solution is unlikely to be 'more of the same' vendor response. ​The recent launch of Microsoft Windows 10 during the second half of 2015 now has many PC OEM vendors hoping that the revamped operating system software will trigger a replacement opportunity for aging laptop and notebook computers. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, total system shipments for portable computing are predicted to reach 165 million units for full-year 2015 -- which is esse...

Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments totaled 68.5 million units in the first quarter of 2015 (1Q15) -- that's a year-on-year decline of -6.7 percent, according to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Following a strong second half of 2014, the PC market in the first quarter of this year faced multiple headwinds -- including inventory build-up of Windows Bing based notebooks, commercial slow down following the Windows XP refresh and constrained demand in many regions due to unfavorable economic conditions. As a result, growth and volume declined with Q1 2015 shipments below 69 million units -- that's the lowest recorded volume since Q1 2009. "Despite the decline, PC shipment in the United States declined at a slower rate than all other regions in first quarter, outperforming worldwide trends for the eleventh consecutive quarter. The strength from key vendors, adoption of emerging products, improvements in the consumer market an...

Those of us that follow trends in the global consumer electronics market knew that this day would come.  ​Media Tablets will overtake Notebook PCs as the largest mobile computing category this year, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. Tablets, now viewed by many analysts to be in direct competition with all forms of notebook PCs, will gain a 52 percent majority share of the mobile computing market by the end of 2015. ABI Research forecasts the flat overall growth of the notebook PC segment, due to longer replacement cycles and device competition, causing notebook devices to drop from 51 percent market share in 2013 to 48 percent in 2015. Moreover, the current downward trend will continue beyond this year. Notebook PC market share is forecast to decline again to 47% by year-end 2016. Although some tablets are competing for share of wallet with notebook PCs, most tablets serve a niche that emphasizes portability and connectivity to the Internet -- ...