PC shipment forecast slashed amid tablet takeover
Tablets to outsell portable PCs by the end of the year - and all PCs by 2015 - says IDC
The PC market has been dealt a double blow by IDC this morning as the analyst forecast an even deeper decline for the market with tablets continuing their march to dominance.
In its Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker (WQTT), IDC claims that 2013 will see tablet shipments surpass that of portable PCs for the first time. The analyst also predicted a 7.8 per cent year-on-year dip in PC sales this year based on separate research.
In its WQTT, IDC predicts that in 2013 tablet shipments will boom by 58.7 per cent annually to 229.3 million units, outstripping sales of portable PCs by the end of the year. By 2015, it forecasts that tablet shipments will exceed that of both portable and desktop PCs combined.
In April, IDC research showed that in this year's Q1 the PC market had its worst quarter since records began, declining 13.9 per cent annually, partly due to the lukewarm response to Windows 8.
Programme manager for IDC's Mobility Trackers Ryan Reith said the tablet takeover is coming, but that businesses may hold on to PCs longer.
"What started as a sign of tough economic times has quickly shifted to a change in the global computing paradigm, with mobile being the primary benefactor," he explained.
"Tablets surpassing portables in 2013, and total PCs in 2015, marks a significant change in consumer attitudes about compute devices and the applications and ecosystems that power them.
"[However] IDC continues to believe that PCs will have an important role in this new era of computing, especially among business users."
Cost reduction on tablets has fuelled the growth spurt, according to IDC, which pinpointed Android tablets as a growth driver due to their low price points.
The worldwide average selling price for tablets is expected to decline to $381(£253) by the end of this year, compared to the average cost of PCs at $635.
More bad news
In a separate report released today, IDC downgraded its PC market forecast - predicting that unit sales will fall by 7.8 per cent annually this year.
The analyst claimed that shipment volume will only reach 333 million in 2017, below the 349 million shipped last year, and much lower than the market shipment peak of more than 363 million which were shipped in 2011.
In its WQTT, IDC said: "The new forecast reflects a shift in PC buying trends as users increasingly consider alternatives such as delaying a PC purchase or using tablets and smartphones for more of their computing needs."