Each quarter, IDC puts out data regarding various market sectors pertaining to enterprise technology. Yesterday, it was the PC market they turned their eye on. And, after several tough years where sales fell, the market has begun to bounce back. IDC expected a 1.8% decline in the market. Instead it grew by 0.6%. It might not be time for a parade, and one data point does not make a trend, but it’s a positive sign.
My gut feeling suggest 2-in-1 systems, the successful release of Windows 10, and more lower cost machines have come together to give the PC market a shot in the arm. I suspect the market has tried tablet devices for the last few years and found them wanting in some of the use-cases they expected them to thrive.
The top five PC makers, by shipments were HP, Lenovo, Dell, Apple and Acer. All recorded growth over the same period last year, with HP increasing shipments by over 13% to further increase their lead over the rest of the pack.
IDC’s data does not include devices with removable keyboards such as the Microsoft Surface Pro but it does include Chromebooks.
So, it seems the PC is still a force to be reckoned with. I’ve certainly noticed that, while I can do a lot with the right tablet, I still need something more like a traditional computer to be at my most productive.
Comments
3 responses to “Is The PC Making A Comeback?”
Does this take into account that businesses might have purchased replacement computers? The lifecycle of their fleet might have been up
The PC isn’t making a comeback as far as I’m concerned because that implies the market needed to collapse in the first place – which it didn’t. Sales might have slowed a bit but it was never in dire straits.
PCs generally last longer than manufacturers might like, and as they run at half the cost of laptops (esp with added desktop screens), I can’t see them going away any time soon.