Worldwide Device Shipments to Decline 14% in 2020 Due to COVID-19: Gartner

COVID-19 affecting not only taking lives but also worsening our economies. Due to COVID-19 impact, global shipments of devices such as PCs, tablets, and mobile phones are on movement to decline by 13.6% in 2020, totaling 1.9 billion units, according to the latest Gartner forecast.

“The forecasted decline in the PC market, in particular, could have been much worse,” said Ranjit Atwal, senior research director at Gartner. “However, government lockdowns due to COVID-19 forced businesses and schools to enable millions of people to work from home and increase spending on new notebooks, Chromebooks and tablets for those workers. Education and government establishments also increased spending on those devices to facilitate e-learning.”

Worldwide Shipments Forecast by Device Type (Millions of Units)

In 2020, PC shipments are expected to decline 10.5%. Shipments of notebooks, tablets and Chromebooks are forecast to decline slower than the PC market overall in 2020.

Working from Home Trend Will Fuel More Versatile Laptops

The forecast shows that 48% of employees will likely work from home, at least part of the time after the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to 30% pre-pandemic. Overall, the remote work trends will make IT businesses shift to more notebooks, tablets and Chrome devices for performance their jobs. 

Phone Lifetimes to Extend to 2.7 Years in 2020

Shipments of total mobile phones are forecast to decline by 14.6% in 2020, while smartphone shipments will achieve a slightly slower decline of 13.7% year over year to total 1.3 billion units in 2020.

“While users have increased the use of their mobile phones to communicate with colleagues, work partners, friends and families during lockdowns, reduced disposable income will result in fewer consumers upgrading their phones. As a result, phone lifetimes will extend from 2.5 years in 2018 to 2.7 years in 2020,” said Mr. Atwal.

5G Phones Will Represent 11% of Total Mobile Phone Shipments in 2020

In 2020, affordable 5G phones were expected to be the catalyst to grow phone replacements, but it will not be the case. 5G phones are now forecast to represent only 11% of total mobile phone shipments in 2020.

“The delayed delivery of some 5G flagship phones is an ongoing issue,” said Annette Zimmermann, research vice president at Gartner. “Moreover, the lack of 5G geographical coverage along with the increasing cost of the 5G phone contract will impact the choice of a 5G phone.”

Overall, spending on 5G phones will be impacted in most regions apart from China, where continued investment in 5G infrastructure is expected, allowing providers in China to effectively market 5G phones.

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