It’s a wild, wild world out there and one place that’s feeling it is personal computers.
Worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall by -8.7 percent in 2015 and not stabilize until 2017, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.
“The latest forecast has growth declining through 2016 –which will make five years of declining shipments,” reports IDC. “Growth should resume in 2017, led by the commercial market, while consumer volume continues a small decline through the end of the forecast in 2019.”
Though the IDC had expected the second quarter of 2015 to be better as vendors prepared for Windows 10 systems coming on board, final results nonetheless shrank even more than expected “due to a stubbornly large inventory of notebooks from prior quarters and severe constraints posed by the decline of major currencies relative to the US Dollar.”
“In addition to economic issues, free upgrades of Windows 10, a relative dearth of newer models in the short term, and channels that are reluctant to take stock also makes the prospect of growth unlikely through 2016,” the IDC reports summary reads.
There are signs of a broader pullback and mobile devices can no longer be the sole culprit for PCs demise.
“Except for smartphones, which are still growing, the combined volume of PCs, tablets, and smartphones is expected to grow only in the single digits from 2015 through 2019 as saturation and “good enough computing” sentiments spread even into tablets, which are expected to see further volume decline in 2015,” notes the firm.
“Although the shortcomings of the PC business are obvious, a silver lining is that the industry has continued to refine the more mobile aspects of personal computers – contributing to higher growth in Convertible & Ultraslim Notebooks,” said Jay Chou, Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide PC Tracker. “The de-emphasis of touch on Windows 10 also paves the way for a more familiar experience and continuing unit growth on large-screen systems, particularly All-in-One PCs.”
