14 DAY TRIAL // The PC market is projected to return to growth in 2019, according to a new forecast from analyst firm IDC, and the Microsoft Surface together with the Apple iPad Pro are expected to be the two main catalysts.
The PC industry has been collapsing for several years already, mostly as a result of the boom experienced by the smartphone and the tablet markets, but with growing sales from the 2-in-1 category, the original trend could be restored in approximately two years.
While the PC would no longer define a system that sits on a desk, but more of a portable device also featuring a keyboard, IDC expects the original desktop concept to continue dropping until 2021, when only 15 million units would be sold for the full year.
The same is projected to happen to the iPad and Android tablets, with sales to decline from last year's 153.4 million units to just 107.1 million in 2021.
Growing sales for 2-in-1s
As far as 2-in-1s are concerned, shipments of this particular form factor are projected to more than double by 2021, from 21.5 million last year to 45.9 million in 4 years.
Microsoft and Apple are both investing in their 2-in-1 device lineups, and while the first has recently launched a new Surface Laptop, the latter is projected to take the wraps off a new iPad Pro as soon as next week.
What’s more, Microsoft is also expected to unveil new product refreshes for its Surface models later this year, with the Surface Book, which the company described as “the ultimate laptop,” to receive a major upgrade as well.
At the same time, the biggest device manufacturers on the market are also betting big on 2-in-1 devices, and their number is growing with every new year, mostly thanks to the success of the Surface and the iPad Pro lineups. And last but not least, the success of Windows 10 is also attracting more OEMs, especially because the operating system can now run on several form factors with dedicated features for each.