Mobile PCs outpace desktops in China

According to the latest research from the DisplaySearch Quarterly China PC Shipment and Forecast Report, total China PC market shipments, which include desktop PCs, all-in-one PCs and mobile PCs (notebooks, mini-notes and tablets), are growing at a faster pace than any other region of the world.

Shipments of displays for all PC types will grow from 80 million units in 2010 to 95 million in 2011, including do-it-yourself and whitebox PCs.

Showing the uniqueness of the personal computer market in China, desktop solutions still enjoy a high penetration in the PC market, with an estimated 57% of the China market in 2011. This varies greatly from more mature markets such as the US and Western Europe, which shifted to mobile PCs from desktop solutions in 2007, with 62% and 71% of the PC markets in 2011.

“China is already the biggest market for monitors and desktop PCs as a result of the rapidly developing economy and greater disposable income for consumers,” noted Robin Wu, DisplaySearch China PC/IT analyst.

“With shipments in rural areas gradually increasing and the current low notebook PC penetration in the region, there is a significant opportunity for further growth.”

China’s DIY market consists of self-built PCs that have a monitor included as part of a complete solution.

These self-built PCs carry no major brand name and are simply the sum of their components with the monitor actually being the most visible brand in the solution.

Since a monitor is purchased with each DIY solution, display shipments are the best indicator for tracking this fragmented market. Domestic PC brands like Lenovo, Acer (Taiwan), Haier and Hasee continue to try to shift consumer purchasing behavior away from DIY to preconfigured bundles as global PC brands have done in more mature markets.

These bundles are now giving way to all-in-one solutions such as AIO desktop PCs, notebooks or tablet PCs, but the DIY market is entrenched in China. Foreign PC brands like Dell, HP and Apple are trying to get a piece of the growing PC market in China but find it difficult to compete against domestic PC brands as well as the DIY space.

DIY shipments for 2010 were about 25 million (representing about 30% of the total desktop market). Lenovo was the leading brand, with 17% of the combined desktop and AIO segments.

Following the worldwide PC market trend, mobile PC shipments are forecast to grow and capture market share from desktop PCs in China, from 29 million units in 2010 to 70 million in 2013. As a result of this growth, along with the continued growth in desktop PCs, China’s total PC market share will increase from just 15% of the global PC market in 2008 to 23% in 2017, putting this region at the same level as North America.

As in other regions, tablet PCs will become more acceptable as a consumer PC and continue to take share from other mobile PCs.

With desktop computing still the mainstream in China, the importance of desktop displays shipped into this region is great, having supply chain impacts across many applications. China is uniquely focused on 19-inch wide (16:10 format) desktop monitors, which account for 40% of the China market, and the China market accounts for nearly two-thirds of all 19-inch W 16:10 monitors.

Manufacturers around the world have been shifting production to 16:9 aspect ratios to use the manufacturing of TV displays; this trend as well as growing demand for smaller displays that are produced more efficiently on the same fabrication lines where 16:10 desktop displays are now produced, will likely push the market in China from 16:10 to 16:9 desktop displays.