Speedy Windows 10 migration to boost PC market

Global PC shipments to return to growth in 2017, driven by latest operating system

The PC market is set to rebound next year as businesses complete testing for Windows 10.

That is according to Gartner, which claims the dip in PC shipments predicted this year will be reversed in 2017.

The analyst predicts that by the end of this year, PC shipments will reach 287 million units, down one per cent on last year. The PC market has had a shaky few years - in 2014 the end of Microsoft XP breathed life into it, but once that died down it began to suffer again.

But Gartner said its fortunes will turn yet again next year, with a four per cent boost in shipments predicted in 2017.

A business boom will be behind the trend, said Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal.

"We expect that businesses will deploy Windows 10 faster than with previous Windows upgrades," he said. "Gartner's global survey of 3,000 business respondents conducted in the fourth quarter of 2015 across six countries (Brazil, China, India, France, the UK and US) found that nearly 80 per cent of businesses are expected to have completed the testing and evaluation of Windows 10 within 12 months and over 60 per cent within nine months.

"Given the shorter testing and evaluation period, many businesses could start to migrate by the end of 2016. By the end of 2017, many business are looking to move as much as 40 per cent of their installed base onto new Windows 10 devices, mainly driven by the appeal of hybrid touchscreen two-in-ones. This will be the catalyst for growth in the PC market in 2017."