What They Say
Bloomberg posted an opinion article that pours cold water on the idea that the current boom in the PC market can be maintained. The article points to the flatness of the market before the pandemic.
What We Think
We’ve seen the re-discovery of technology before. Netbooks, with small displays, were a strong fashion for a couple of years, but users found that they needed an external monitor to really get the use out of them, so eventually full notebooks made a comeback. Tablets took a lot of interest away from PCs, but the pandemic has shown how essential they are (although Chromebooks, which are basically PCs, which could take more share). The article talks of office attendance being needed, but I think that many will at least espouse hybrid home/office working so the need for multiple and/or portable work devices will continue. Tablets took away demand for notebooks and are useful, but not enough for many activities.
As Ryan Reith of IDC said at the DSCC/SID Business Conference, the consumer market has gone from one per person to one per household to somewhere in-between over recent years. (BR)
