PC market now hit by COVID-19, according to IDC
BOSTON: With 2019 in the rear-view mirror and the emergence of the COVID-19 virus, market watcher IDC has downgraded its forecast for personal computing devices (PCDs), Including desktops, notebooks, workstations and tablets.
According to new projections from the Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, overall PCD shipments will decline 9.0 percent in 2020, reaching 374.2 million by year’s end.
But it forecasts that in the long-term that the market will be slightly positive, as global shipments are forecast to grow to 377.2 million in 2024, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.2 percent.
The decline in 2020 is attributed to two significant factors: the Windows 7 to Windows 10 transition creates tougher year-over-year growth comparisons from here on out; and, more recently, the spread of COVID-19 is hampering supply and leading to reduced demand.
As a result, IDC tips a decline of 8.2 percent in shipments during the first quarter of 2020 (1Q20), followed by a decline of 12.7 percent in 2Q20 as the existing inventory of components and finished goods from the first quarter will have been depleted by the second quarter.