The International Data Corporation (IDC), in light of the U.S. import tariffs on products from China and the deterioration of market sentiment, particularly in the consumer sector, has revised its forecast for personal computer (PC) and tablet shipments for 2025 and beyond, according to Interfax-Kazakhstan.
It is now anticipated that the global PC market will reach 273 million units in 2025, which marks a 3.7% increase from last year's figures. Subsequently, IDC expects growth to be less than 1% annually until the end of 2029, partly due to stabilization following users' transition to the Windows 11 operating system.
Tablet sales are expected to decline by 0.8% this year, totaling 143.3 million units. Following a gradual decrease, the shipment volume is projected to be around 141.6 million units by 2029, primarily due to market saturation among consumers.
The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for global PC and tablet sales from 2025 to 2029 is forecasted by IDC to be 0.4%. As a result, total shipments are expected to reach 422.6 million units by 2029.
Previously, IDC reported that global shipments of augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) headsets grew by 12.8% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2024, following two consecutive quarters of decline. Meta emerged as the sole leader with a market share of 70.8%. Sony secured second place with a significant gap (6.7% market share) with its PSVR2 headset. The top five suppliers also included Apple Inc., ByteDance, and XREAL.