14 DAY TRIAL // 2020 and 2021 witnessed massive increases in terms of PC and tablet sales, as a big part of the world started working remotely.
The two industry sectors, therefore, recorded massive increases that nobody believed were possible, and after two years of super-strong demand, sales of PCs and tablets are now expected to go down.
The latest report from IDC estimates that global shipments of traditional PCs are expected to go down by 12.8 percent this year to 305.3 million, while the tablet market could decline by 6.8 percent to 156.8 million units.
“Further contraction is also expected in 2023 as consumer demand has slowed, the education demand has been largely fulfilled, and enterprise demand gets pushed out due to worsening macroeconomic conditions. The combined market for PCs and tablets is forecast to decline 2.6% in 2023 before returning to growth in 2024,” IDC says.
Growth expected in 2024
The company cites the inflation and the boom recorded by the two markets in the last two years are the main reasons for the declining sales in 2022 and 2023.
"Though demand is slowing, the outlook for shipments remains above pre-pandemic levels," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. "Long-term demand will be driven by a slow economic recovery combined with an enterprise hardware refresh as support for Windows 10 nears its end. Educational deployments and hybrid work are also expected to become a mainstay driving additional volumes."
The good news is that PC and tablet sales would once again return to growth in 2024, with 2026 shipments to exceed the 2022 numbers. For example, IDC expects sales of PCs in 2026 to reach 269.3 million units in the consumer space, therefore surpassing the 265.3 million units projected to sell this year.