Market researchers expect weak PC market, share prices slump
IDC estimates that US punitive tariffs against China and a slowdown in consumer spending will dampen unit growth in PCs, notebooks and tablets for years to come.
(Image: c’t Magazin)
Although the PC market is not going downhill, it is hardly going up – until 2029, according to market research company IDC. It has revised its previous forecast downwards.
IDC's cold forecast shower probably contributed to a significant drop in the share prices of AMD, Intel, Qualcomm and many other chip companies. PC, CPU and RAM manufacturers had previously pinned their hopes on 2025, as Microsoft will end support for Windows 10 in October.
IDC cites the US punitive tariffs against China and the "weakening market sentiment" as reasons for the poorer market outlook.
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Meagre growth for years to come
IDC still expects an increase in sales for the current year 2025. Global unit sales of desktop PCs and notebooks are expected to grow by 3.7 percent.
However, this growth will mainly be driven by commercial clients and the education sector. According to IDC, private individuals will only buy 0.2% more new computers. And observers expect stagnation for tablets.
Worse still: after the wave of new purchases this year due to Windows 11, IDC expects a significant decline in growth until 2029. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the number of desktop PCs, notebooks and tablets is expected to be just 0.4% from 2026 to 2029.
(ciw)
