In the last few years, the trend in the PC market has been going south and over the last five years, global shipments of traditional PCs (desktops and notebooks) have fallen from 343 million units in 2012 to an estimated 232 million units in 2016. In terms of revenue, the global PC market has contracted from $219 million in 2012 to an expected $137 million in 2016.
Gartner feels that the growth for PC manufacturers lie in ultramobile premium PC segment which are priced more than $1000. For normal PCs which are priced around $500, a vendor gets margin of only five per cent. But in the ultramobile premium segment the margin can go as high as 25 per cent and this is the way forward for PC manufacturers.
Despite a declining PC market, the ultramobile premium segment is on pace to achieve revenue growth this year — the only segment set to do so. It is estimated to reach $34.5 million, an increase of 16 percent from 2015. In 2019, Gartner forecasts that the ultramobile premium segment will become the largest segment of the PC market in revenue terms, at $57.6 million.
According to Tracy Tsai, research vice president at Gartner, “The ultramobile premium market is also more profitable in comparison with the low-end segment, where PCs priced at $500 or less have five percent gross margins. The gross margin can reach up to 25 per cent for high-end ultramobile premium PCs priced at $1,000 or more.”
By Atanu Kumar Das
