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We've heard that the sky is falling in the PC market so many times that we've quit looking up. The truth of the matter is that no matter how popular tablets become and how much gaming consoles transform themselves into true media centers, the PC market is alive, well, and even thriving. This much was confirmed yet again, this time by research firm International Data Corp. (IDC), which is predicting a rebound of sorts in 2012.
Before we jump ahead, let's take a look at what IDC is predicting in the short term. According to IDC, worldwide PC shipments will "grow by just 4.2 percent in 2011, down from a February forecast of 7.1 percent." What you make of that statement will depend on your perspective, but regardless of missing an earlier forecast, the PC market is still growing, not declining.
Looking ahead, IDC still expects the PC market to grow at a double-digit clip of 10 to 11 percent annually between 2012 and 2015. That's still slower than what it's been in years past, a trend the IDC attributes to increasing competition from smartphones, tablets, eBook readers, and other connected devices.
"Nevertheless, IDC expects significant growth in both consumer and commercial markets to continue beyond 2011," IDC said. "New designs, chips, operating systems, features, and services, along with falling prices will continue to make PCs more powerful, affordable, and functional than ever before. Despite incursions by smartphones and media tablets, PCs have a large user base and ecosystem, and continue to represent the most comprehensive and affordable computing platform."
It's not just notebooks and netbooks driving growth either, though portable PCs play the biggest role. According to IDC, desktop PC shipments will grow by 0.8 percent in 2011, 3.6 percent in 2012, 1.4 percent in 2013, 1 percent in 2014, and 1.4 percent in 2015.
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Holly Golightly
June 06, 2011 at 9:05am
Now this, is good news!
I feel that a great chunk of Gaming PC growth will come from the holidays, as it always does. But this depend on which part of the PC we are counting as growth. Is it motherboards? Cases? PC gaming has never died, and never will. If anything, I really feel it can only grow. Everytime I read something about PC Gaming is history and blah blah blah... I just can not help but to question of whether they wrote that article from their iPhone as they are stuck with 2D Gaming. I have also noticed that some PC games have been more and more movie-like, suggesting that future growth is definitely upon us. Anyhow, this is the type of good news that can make anyone feel great.
Marthian
June 06, 2011 at 9:31am
Yeah 2011 seems to be a great year to be a PC gamer. I think it will be CPU's that will be the growth you think of, especially looking at the Sandy Bridge cpu's. Motherboards possibly, there is that SSD caching on the Z68. Cases I can't really see any changes. And yeah, people who say PC gaming is dead needs to shut it, its anything but that.
Also, laptops/netbooks and tower pc's are never going to die out in my opinion, they are much faster than tablets, I'd prefer to type on a actual keyboard than a virtual keyboard and lose screen space. And there is no questions asked PC's are the best at graphics.
I wonder if anyone ever takes into account that everything from tablets to game consoles involve PC's in one way or another, mainly programming. Try making a AAA game on a game console or tablet, go on. I dare you, naysayers.
