PCs to See Continued Slowdown as Consumers Stretch Life Cycles, Says Report
Sales of personal computing devices (PCDs), comprising desktops, notebooks and workstations, will continue to decline through 2021, said a Thursday ABI Research forecast. Globally, PCD shipments will decline from 435.1 million units last year to 398.3 million units in 2021,…
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it said. Tablets are expected to continue their slide “as the appeal of slate devices diminishes” and life cycles expand to parallel those of PCs, it said. Detachable tablets, meanwhile, will continue to grow, but ABI scaled back its short-term forecast as OEMs are making a “slower transition from notebook PCs to detachables than previously expected.” PC users, especially consumers, “continue to stretch the life of older PCs” and in the process spend less while spreading computing use over a portfolio of devices, said analyst Loren Loverde. Notebook PCs will see “small but steady” year-over-year growth from 2019-2021, said Loverde. Detachable PCs, tablets and convertible notebooks will be the fastest growing segments with a compound annual growth rate of more than 14 percent, said the research firm. Category shipments could pick up on any of a number of accelerators including economic conditions, gaming adoption, virtual reality and Windows 10, “but even in the best case, overall growth would likely remain limited,” said Loverde.