Counterpoint Research is analysing Global PC industry on a quarterly basis. In this report, we have analysed Global PC shipments from Q1 2010 to Q4 2017 with key focus on Desktop Vs Notebooks global shipments and annual Growth % for Major OEMs & PC industry.

Overview:

• Global PC Shipments and Global PC Desktop Shipments declined 2 % YoY and 14 % YoY respectively, where Global PC Notebooks grew 4 % YoY in 2017.
• HP ranked No. 1 in PC Desktop Shipments and No. 2 in PC Notebook shipments, with 20% and 22.7% market share in 2017, respectively. Also, it is the only player in 4Q 2017 with positive YoY growth in PC Desktop (1%) and PC Notebooks (8%) shipments, respectively. Hence, HP managed to replace Lenovo from top spot in Global PC Shipments
• Lenovo remained the No. 1 spot in PC Notebook Shipments with 23% market share and 5% YoY growth in 2017. In China, Lenovo regained momentum for 2nd consecutive quarter via innovative products and channel enhancement. Moreover, in Q4 2017 revenue grew 7.6 YoY to US$9.3 billion, and up 10.4 % QoQ.
• Dell remained on 3rd spot in both Global PC Shipments and PC Notebooks Shipments with 16% and 14% market share respectively in 2017. In Q4 2017, its revenue grew 10% YoY, driven by notebooks and the benefits of investments in gaming products. Almost 50 % of revenue is generated by sales to customers in the Americas, with the remaining portion derived from sales to customers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and the Asia-Pacific and Japan region.
• In 4Q 2017: Apple Global PC Shipments declined 5 % YoY due to delay in shipping of its new iMac Pro late in December 2017 as compare to MacBook Pro shipment in early Q4 2016.However, Apple Global PC Shipments grew 2% YoY in 2017, majorly dominated by PC Notebooks Shipments ‘s growth of 5% YoY in 2017.
• In 4Q 2017, Toshiba continues to decline 47% QoQ and 75 % YoY, due to complete withdrawal from overseas B2C business. In addition to lower sales, increases in component costs, such as SSD, resulted in deteriorated operating income and revenue decline of 16 % YoY
• In Q4 2017, Microsoft launched the Surface LTE and unveiled a new generation of always on, always connected Windows 10 PCs. With up to 20 days of standby power, this new category of PCs, deeply integrated with Cortana and with new near-field and far-field capability, will fundamentally change productivity. A year ago, Microsoft made its entry to PC market with the introduction of Surface Book in Q4 2016. And in Q4 2017, its Global PC Shipments grew 84 % YoY, the highest YoY growth among all players.

PC vendors are embracing Qualcomm powered always Cellular connected PC. However, Intel is not left behind in this race. In 4Q 2017, Qualcomm announced it Connected PC solution is powered by Snapdragon 835 Mobile PC Platform with built-in 4G LTE connectivity. Qualcomm connected PC portfolio includes X5 LTE modem that supports download speeds up to 150 Mbps and Snapdragon X7 that supports up to 300 Mbps. Moreover, X16 LTE modem supports LTE advance Pro or Gigabyte LTE. Asus NovaGo and HP ENVY x2 were one of the first few PC models to adopt the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC for always Connected PC solution. In CES 2018, Intel-powered always connected PC showcased equipped with Intel Core processor and Intel XMMTM modem for Always Connected PC solution. PC vendors announced their new product.
• Acer introduced the Intel Core i7 processor-powered Swift 7
• HP announced the new Envy X2, an always-connected PC
• Dell announced that its all-new Inspiron 5280 2 in 1 with built-in 4G LTE

Interestingly, HP originally launched always connected PC powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and Windows 10, however, HP is now introducing a new Intel-powered variant. Instead of a Snapdragon 835, HP has added a 7th gen Intel Y-Series processor on this device and Windows 10 Home instead of Windows 10 S. However, Lenovo announced its Miix 630 model, built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile 835 Mobile PC processor and comes with 4G connectivity. We also expect some of the smartphone OEM to enter this space, leveraging their experience by employing the same snapdragon solution for smartphone, extending to thin form of connected PC, with windows on snapdragon.

Other factor which will drive always connected & new generation of windows 10 and beyond are the mixed reality features coming to windows platform which will have significant use case in education, industrial and enterprise verticals as well as for creative professionals, advertisers and gaming developers.

In the age of IoT Revolution, In-built connectivity for PC was the next step of evolution for PC industry. Going forward, we can see more PC vendors opting for always connected PC solutions. However, there is now still tough competition between Qualcomm and Intel to dominate the always connected PC market.

Table of contents:

• Pivot Chart
• Pivot
• PCs - Notebooks Vs Desktops 

Author: Satyajit Sinha
Published Date: March 2018