There will continue to be a decline in the market for personal computing devices (PCDs) in the UK, according to IDC, with the number of units forecast for 2017 at 3.2 million, down 6.8% YoY. Q2 saw a 10.8% YoY drop. Entry level PCs and tablets offer low profits, so OEMs are focusing on high-end devices. Another change is the move to thinner, lighter products, such as detachables, convertibles and ultraslims, as mobility grows in importance.
IDC thinks that there will be a 27.6% YoY rise in detachable tablets in the second half of this year in the UK. Detachables saw a slowdown in the first six months, partly because the benefits over notebooks were not clear to consumers, and partly due to OEM emphasis on convertibles. In addition, detachable brands took longer than usual to produce updated products, but the move to Windows 10 is expected to help sales.
Ultraslims are predicted to see a 9.8% YoY increase in 2017, and convertibles should be up by 28.9%. These two and detachables will account for 30% of this year’s UK market, compared with 25% last year. IDC forecasts that this figure will rise to 43% of all PCDs by 2021.
