New PC trends in remote work & learning | Global Sources
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Around the world, people were compelled by COVID-19 to keep living their lives despite challenges to mobility, face-to-face interactions, and other pandemic-related limitations. People still need employment despite the virus and lockdowns, so work became work-from-home. The young still need education, so going to school now meant hours of remote classes in front of a computer screen.
This era of remote working and learning has changed the way consumers are using digital devices, with laptops and tablets now eclipsing desktop personal computers (PCs) as devices of choice for consumers. A Gartner report noted worldwide usage increase rates of 8.8 percent and 11.7 percent for laptops and tablets, respectively, in 2021.
Worldwide shipments of traditional PCs – comprising laptops (including laptops with detachable keyboards), notebooks, desktops (including all-in-one PCs and gaming PCs) and detachable tablets -- totaled 71.3 million units in the second quarter of 2022, “still well above pre-pandemic levels”, according to a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC).
Research on hot products and keywords from Global Sources’ exclusive analysis team shows a steady demand for PCs as well as an increase in the number of searches for peripheral products such as keyboards and network equipment. These top keywords include “laptops,” “desktop,” “graphics cards,” “keyboard,” and “mouse.” Industry observers are also seeing a bright future for the latter three PC-related products.
Market analyst firm Jon Peddie Research has a positive forecast for graphics cards in the near term, saying the sector will grow from its 2022 value of $46 billion to $57 billion by 2025. The keyboard sector, meanwhile, is also projected to expand from $6.57 billion in 2022 to $8.50 billion in 2026, according to ReportLinker. Keyboard use by gamers is driving this rise. One of the reasons gamers prefer keyboards is that the 104-key full-size layout of keyboards provides them with flexibility, such as the option of using macros for commands, to control their gaming experience. The global wired and wireless mouse market is likewise forecast to expand from $1.94 billion in 2021 to $2.92 billion in 2026. As is the case with keyboards, the rising number of gamers worldwide is propelling the growth of the mouse sector.
PCs have played a vital role in consumers’ daily lives, enabling everyone to work, learn, play, and connect from home amid lockdowns and social distancing. They will remain a major device for daily networking in people's lives in the coming years.
