The death of the PC may be greatly exaggerated, but there’s no question it’s in decline.
That’s the takeaway from market researcher IDC, which today said it expects PC shipments to drop 9.7 percent this year as customers around the world continue to turn to mobile devices including tablets and smartphones and as PC buyers in emerging markets including China hold back on their computer buying.
“Aside from stubbornly depressed consumer interest, 2013 also marks the first year where emerging regions are expected to contract at a steeper rate than mature regions. Leading this trend is China’s revised forecast, which calls for a double-digit decline in shipments this year compared to 2012, as channel sources report high levels of stagnant inventory and continued enthusiasm for tablets and smartphones,” IDC said. “The market as a whole is expected to decline through at least 2014, with only single-digit modest growth from 2015 onward, and never regain the peak volumes last seen in 2011.”
In a separate report, IDC also said it “modestly lowered” it expectations for tablet shipments for 2013 and beyond as it takes into some consumer spending shifting to new categories of devices, like wearable computers and phablets, smartphones with 5-inch and greater screens.
IDC said it sees worldwide tablet shipments reaching 227.4 million units in 2013, down from a prior forecast of 229.3 million. But that’s still 57.7 percent higher than 2012 shipments. By 2017, IDC expects worldwide shipments to be reach almost 407 million units, with demand outside the U.S., Western Europe and Japan shrinking from 60.8% of the worldwide market in 2012 to 49 percent.
