IT Trends

Tablets and PCs to See Dramatic Decline in 2023

• By David Nagel
• 03/14/23

One of the few bright spots for tablet and PC manufacturers is schools, as the overall market for these computing devices is expected to fall 11.2% this year, reaching 2019 levels.

According to a new forecast from market research firm IDC, tablets will decline 12% this year, with 142.3 million units expected to ship, while PCs will decline 10.7%, with 260.8 million units expected to ship worldwide.

According to IDC: "The tide had been building toward a market slowdown for some time. With consumers no longer bound by COVID restrictions and commercial backorders for PCs largely completed, the second half of 2022 sent a strong signal that endpoint devices are no longer the focal point and that 2023 will be a time for inventory clearing and shifting priorities."

"Commercial demand, both from businesses and schools, will remain a bright spot throughout the forecast as hybrid work and 1:1 deployments in schools have permanently increased the size of the total addressable market," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, in a prepared statement. "The sunsetting of Windows 10 is expected to drive PC refreshes in 2024 and 2025 while Chromebooks and Android tablets benefit from educational deployments and refreshes. Despite Apple's slow and steady commercial gains in recent quarters, the company's lack of broad adoption among commercial buyers will likely lead to Microsoft- and Google-based platforms outperforming Apple's products over the next two years."

After 2023, IDC predicts, the market will rebound from the decline, with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 1.9%. That will be driven primarily by PCs, with a five-year CAGR of 2.9%. Tablets will see zero growth in the forecast period.

Further details can be found in IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.