Halfway through 2016, shipments of personal computing devices continue their downward spiral, as industry researcher IC Insights revises its forecast downward for the year. The researcher said it expects global shipments of personal computers and tablets to fall 2% and 4% this year respectively, compared to an earlier forecast of 0% and 2% change, respectively, in both categories.
The trend continues a downward slide in standard PCs that began around 2012. Tablet shipments had continued to rise, hitting an all-time high in 2014.
“Worldwide shipments of PCs and tablets fell by about 10% on an annual basis in the final quarter of 2015, and the declines were nearly that bad in [the first quarter of 2016],” IC Insights said in announcing a revision to its 2016 IC Market Drivers Report. “… Through 2019, IC Insights forecasts that total personal computing units shipments will now grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of only 0.1%, compared to the previous 0.7% CAGR projection.”
The outlook for growth in shipments of Internet/Cloud-Computing systems is brighter, as IC Insights predicts that shipments of those units will rise to 12 million this year compared to 10 million in 2015. Such systems are low-cost alternatives to full-blown PCs with greater capabilities than tablets. Most are designed as Chromebook systems, based on platform specifications defined by Google for its Chrome operating system and online applications, and they are becoming more popular as users get comfortable with cloud-based solutions.
Despite the increase, cloud-based computing systems remain a small portion of the personal computing segment.
“Though shipments of Internet/cloud systems are expected to climb through the end of the decade, they are forecast to remain a very small portion of total personal computing unit volume,” the researcher said.
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