A slowdown in sales is expected in the global PC and tablet market

The International Data Corporation (IDC) has released its latest forecast for the global market of traditional personal computers and tablets. Analysts believe that the development of the industry will slow down next year.

A slowdown in sales in the global PC and tablet market

By the end of 2021, it is expected that about 344.7 million PCs will be sold globally. This will correspond to an increase of 13.5% over last year. However, supplies will decline by 3.4% in the current quarter. The reason is the shortage of electronic components, which hit various sectors of the IT market hard.

Similarly, in the segment of tablets, analysts are talking about an increase of 4.3% for the outgoing year as a whole, while quarterly sales will decrease by 8.6%.

Going forward, the growth in shipments of traditional personal computers will slow down, and shipments of tablets will decline. It is noted that the tablet sector will experience negative dynamics due to competition from smartphones with large displays and laptops.

If we consider the period until 2025, then the indicator CAGR (compound annual growth rate), according to IDC, will be at 3.3%. The main growth will be provided by laptops.

Supply Constraints Will Continue to Challenge the PC and Tablet Markets

"The market has pulled past peak pandemic PC demand," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager with IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. "While we have seen some slowing of consumer demand in certain segments and markets, demand for gaming remains an exception and overall consumer demand is well above pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, the onset of saturation in some education markets is another cause for lower expectations in the coming quarters."

"With on-going supply chain challenges we have seen OEMs prioritizing commercial demand in recent months;" said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. "More often than not the commercial dollars are larger and more guaranteed compared to the consumer and education segments. The recent slowdown in the consumer segment is expected to continue into 2022; but in the long run we expect the consumer PC market will have a five-year growth rate similar to the commercial segment".

"Of the three market segments – commercial, consumer, and education; it is looking like commercial will be the only one to grow in 2022. Part of this is driven by supply, but also because it will take time for a consumer refresh cycle to happen; following the wave of consumer buying that happened over the past two years. The education segment hasn't been able to get all the devices it needs; but on a broader scale there haven't been many cancelled orders. When supply catches up with demand, we expect to see an uplift in the education sector as well."