The latest IDC predictions and figures are in and they’re showing that Surface Pro-style devices are going to be the only PC growth segment over the next months or even years. The Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker shows predictions that the PC market will decline 1.8% over the next 4 years, from 408.3 million units in 2018 to 386.2 million in 2022.
The silver lining is that the detachable market is poised to grow by 9.8% over the same time period, going from 23.9 million devices this year to 35 million in 2022. The challenge for the PC and tablet market is the same now as it was in the past. There are still pockets of opportunity and growth in some areas, when you really look into it. Notebook PCs are clearly headed towards the premium and gaming area, while convertibles stay light and slim.
Detachables are found to grow lately and that’s why they also received solid investments. The trends around the notebook growth opportunities have outgrown detachable developments. The iPad peaked a long while ago, back in 2014 and has been on a decline ever since then, with that trend expected to continue.
The desktop PCs are also expected to go down, with a minus 2.6% over the time period. Enterprise buyers generate the bulk of demand and consumer-wise, gaming should also help the segment progress further. Many gamers are still choosing manual upgrades or going towards gaming notebooks, which may be a challenge for the segment. Consumers are choosing more and more smaller and ultrasmall form factor desktops and smaller components like lesser known graphics cards.
Mobile workstrations are expected to stagnate over the next years, while detachables will surely grow, almost as much as the slate tablets drop in percentage. So basically if you’re the maker of a Surface Pro-style clone, you’re in for some profit.
