IDC: PC Market Will Shrink More Than Expected This Year

The PC market will shrink even faster in 2015 than expected. That is the view of market researcher IDC. Initially, a decrease of 3.3 percent was expected, but now it is 4.9 percent, IDC fears. The PC market will shrink a little less in 2016, IDC expects.

Last year, the number of PCs shipped fell 0.8 percent, a modest contraction compared to the larger declines in recent years. This year is looking less rosy, however, IDC predicts. A 3.3 percent drop had already been forecast, but IDC has now revised that forecast to a larger drop of no less than 4.9 percent. This concerns 6.2 percent fewer desktops and 3.9 percent fewer laptops. The market researcher does not expect Windows 10 to help the PC market rebound this year.

The decline is partly caused by emerging markets, which are struggling with growing instability and economic conditions that are causing consumers to spend less. Competition from other devices such as smartphones and tablets is still an issue, although tablet sales growth has slowed, IDC said. Next year, the number of PCs shipped should fall less sharply: IDC expects a drop of only one hundred thousand copies.

A total of 308.1 million PCs were shipped last year, including 133.8 million desktops and 174.3 million laptops, according to IDC. This year, according to IDC, the number of PCs delivered is 293.1 million PCs, of which 125.5 million are desktops and 167.5 million laptops. Laptops will become even more popular in the coming years, the market researcher believes: IDC expects the number of notebooks delivered to have increased slightly in 2019, while the number of desktops sold would have decreased even further.