Korea IDC announces domestic PC shipments of 4.62 million units last year, up 3.2% year-on-year
Ultra-slim, practical gaming laptop demand increases... Global PC shipments drop 5.7%

"Considering that global PC shipments also decreased by 5.7% in 2016, the growth of the domestic PC market in 2016 is noteworthy."

According to a recent domestic PC market research analysis by IDC Korea (CEO Hong Yoo-sook), domestic PC shipments last year reached 4.62 million units, a 3.2% increase from 2015. The domestic PC market has been declining every year since 2012.

▲LG Electronics' Ultra HD ultra-slim notebook released early last year

A major driver of market growth is ultra-slim notebooks measuring less than 21 mm in thickness. In 2016, ultra-slim notebooks shipped 1.5 million units, showing a rapid growth of more than 40% year-on-year, and their share of the entire notebook market was 62.3%, showing high preference in Korea compared to 31.6% worldwide.

In addition to thickness, it satisfies users' tastes with improved design and lighter weight, and recently, it has enabled a mobile computing environment by increasing the battery charging method and usage time.


▲ Domestic PC shipments by year (thousand units) Source: IDC 2017


▲ Domestic PC product shipments (thousand units) Source: IDC 2017

Second, there is the growth of the market for practical gaming notebooks. Recently released excellent graphic-based games, including Overwatch, support multi-core and parallel processing, providing an environment where you can enjoy games sufficiently even on mainstream notebooks with the right combination of processor and external graphics card.

A number of affordable gaming laptops have been released to meet consumer demands, and various marketing activities have been carried out, including e-sports competitions, gaming events, and promotions. It is expected that new market opportunities can be found by combining it with virtual reality, which has recently been attracting attention.


▲ Domestic PC market shipments (thousand units) Source: IDC 2017

The last major driver is the education sector. In 2016, the education market shipped 360,000 units, about double the previous year. The Office of Education carried out a project to replace aging desktops in schools and provide PCs for low-income families. The education volume is expected to be mostly completed before the new semester starts in February of this year, so replacement demand is expected to decrease somewhat thereafter. Meanwhile, corporate demand last year decreased by 4.7% year-on-year to 1.35 million units, as replacement timing is delayed due to economic uncertainty.

Kwon Sang-jun, a senior researcher at IDC Korea, said, "Rather than recognizing last year's increase in domestic PC shipments as a revival of the overall PC market, we need to pay attention to the fact that demand arose in specific markets such as ultra-slim and gaming." He added, "Related companies should seize this market opportunity to expand the purpose and usability of PCs."