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 public cloud computing sector is in a constant state of evolution, as vendors design new IT infrastructure architectures and service providers deploy them in their own unique hyperscale data center facilities. According to the latest analysis of cloud pricing by 451 Research, for the majority of new applications, a serverless solution offers a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than both virtual machines (VMs) or containers. Severless Cloud Market Development When analyzing serverless offerings from the leading public cloud service providers, 451 Research determined that IBM generally offers the least expensive service, with Microsoft leading for certain other configurations. According to the 451 Research assessment, the TCO of serverless tends to be lower than VMs, even when the VM is hosting containers, because there is no need for developers to provision, configure and manage the infrastructure. As an example, when a serverless function is active for just three quarte...

Data center server virtualization and cloud computing requirements are evolving. More CIOs and IT managers will be deploying Linux container based solutions in 2017, as the market matures and the vendors gain new momentum with their go-to-market strategies. The market will grow from $762 million in 2016 to $2.7 billion by 2020, according to the latest worldwide market study by 451 Research. Despite making up a relatively small portion of the overall Cloud-Enabling Technologies (CET) market, application containers will  experience a CAGR of 40 percent through 2020. The entire CET market  -- which includes virtualization, containers, Private PaaS, and other automation and management software -- is estimated to be worth approximately $23.1 billion in 2017. It is expected to grow at a 15 percent CAGR to $39.6 billion at year-end 2020. Application Container Market Development The application container market can be compared to the OpenStack market. But based on the numbe...

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...

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 Internet of Things ( IoT ) is already having a significant impact on product development in the automobile industry. As the IoT applications mature, analysts are predicting the increasing adoption of open source hardware and software technologies. Moreover, while 4G networks would be preferred by automakers to power the connected car, it is 3G networks that will carry the data driving the majority of its global telematics and infotainment services revenues. In fact, according to the latest market study by ABI Research, it will be after 2020 that 4G becomes the leading connection technology for OEM telematics revenues. It is typical for verticals with long product lifecycles, such as automotive, to show delayed uptake of next generation technologies, such as 4G, due to slower penetration into the installed vehicle base. "There are exceptions. For instance, in the United States, Japan and Korea, 4G will lead revenue generation," said Dan Shey, VP and IoT practice di...

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...

Back in April of 2012, a key trend had emerged -- people were choosing lower-cost notebook PCs. The Wintel partnership was concerned. If the trend gained momentum, then profits would surely be impacted. Intel responded with the Ultrabook campaign , in an attempt to "correct" the market. The result of this huge marketing investment by Intel was " cinematic and epic " -- but clearly not in a way that was intended. The outcome from the campaign and the apparent lessons-learned are truly one of the most insightful marketing case studies of the decade. Why? This was an irrefutable example of how traditional mass-media marketing was no longer able to significantly influence buyer sentiment. Moreover, the size of an advertising and promotion budget won't translate into market development gains, if and when it rejects a compelling trend in the marketplace. The Reality: a New Era of Computing The Average Selling Price (ASP) of Ultrabooks and media tablets declin...

Worldwide revenue from Linux operating system software grew by 23.4 percent from 2007 to 2008, and that growth will be followed by a 2008-2013 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.9 percent, according to the latest study by IDC. With this growth, worldwide Linux operating systems revenue will cross $1 billion for the first time in 2012, growing to $1.2 billion by 2013. By comparison, Linux server operating system subscriptions will exhibit a different profile, with a contraction of net new subscriptions expected in 2009, followed by a steady recovery through 2013. Meanwhile, non-paid Linux server operating system deployments are predicted to grow more quickly than new subscriptions through 2013, leading to a net increase of non-paid Linux server operating systems deployed compared to total worldwide Linux server operating systems being placed into service. The combined total of Linux server operating system subscriptions and non-paid deployments is expected to show a 2008-2013 CAGR...