As countries around the world continue to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, International Data Corp. (IDC) expects the global economy to face challenges as consumers and businesses cope with financial hardship among other losses. Due to these factors, IDC’s forecast for the global tablet, notebook PC, desktop PC, and workstation market has been lowered for 2020 with shipments expected to reach 360.9 million units, declining 12.4% year over year.
The market is expected to recover slowly in the following years with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.3%.
According to IDC, the supply chain has mostly returned to normal levels of production after suffering during the first quarter of 2020 when the pandemic was believed to have peaked around the world.
Traditional PC market in the APAC grew by 3.8% in 2019
IDC: Worldwide PC shipments to decline 9.0% in 2020
However, logistics remain a major hurdle due to the greatly diminished number of commercial passenger flights, which often carry cargo, and the lower availability of ocean freight has led to an increase in transportation costs. The closure of retail stores and varying degrees of lockdown around the world have also shifted demand in the near team.
“The increase in demand for PCs and tablets as more people work or study from home is likely to be short-lived,” said Jitesh Ubrani research manager for IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. “Barring major changes in the trajectory of infections around the world, we anticipate many small and medium businesses to struggle to keep the lights on and consumers to focus on purchasing staples and other necessities in the second half of the year rather than seeking new computing devices.”