PC shipments continue to decline according to IDC’s tracker
IDC’s worldwide quarterly PC tracker results are out and the decline of PCs has continued. This is mainly due to the decline of desktops and workstation class PCs. The market declined by 2.7% year over year. The good part is that detachable tablet market increased by nearly 10%. According to IDCs forecast, the desktop and workstation class PCs will continue to declient well into 2022.
“As the broader PCD market continues to evolve, challenges remain but there are plenty of positive signs, too,” said Tom Mainelli, program vice president with IDC’s Devices and AR/VR programs. “New form factors such as convertibles and detachables continue to show long-term growth opportunities in both consumer and commercial markets. Chromebooks remain a bright spot with an increasing number of consumers embracing the platform. And the gaming category continues to grow, driving both positive volumes and ASP trends.”
“As expected the PCD market ended 2017 with a contraction,” said Jay Chou, research manager with IDC’s Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. “But behind this number is a silver lining that shows the notebook segment posting its most positive growth since 2012, a point bolstered by the continued consumer migration to premium and ultraslim form factors.”
Total of 423.2 million PCs were shipped in 2017 and only 97.8 million of that were desktop class PCs. Notebooks and workstation class laptops registered 161.7 million shipments, followed by 141.8 million shipments registered by Slate Tablets.
| Personal Computing Device Forecast, 2017-2022 (shipments in millions) | |||||
| Product Category | 2017 Shipments | 2017 Share | 2022 Shipments* | 2022 Share* | 2017-2022 CAGR* |
| Desktop + DT & Datacenter Workstation | 97.8 | 23.1% | 86.0 | 22.3% | -2.5% |
| Notebook + Mobile Workstation | 161.6 | 38.2% | 162.2 | 42.1% | 0.1% |
| Detachable Tablet | 21.9 | 5.2% | 34.6 | 9.0% | 9.6% |
| Slate Tablet | 141.8 | 33.5% | 102.9 | 26.7% | -6.2% |
| Grand Total | 423.2 | 100.0% | 385.7 | 100.0% | -1.8% |
| Traditional PC | 259.4 | 61.3% | 248.3 | 64.4% | -0.9% |
| Traditional PC + Detachable | 281.3 | 66.5% | 282.9 | 73.3% | 0.1% |
| Total Tablet (Slate + Detachable) | 163.8 | 38.7% | 137.5 | 35.6% | -3.4% |
| Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, February 28, 2018 | |||||
