Over the course of the last few years, we have watched the PC market shipment numbers drop every quarter. This is mostly due to the large number of mobile device sales taking the place of desktop PC sales. Many stores minimized the desktop offerings in favor of more stylish mobile items like tablets. Well, Intel analysis says this is coming to an end and they expect that now 12% shipping margin to rise by almost 5% this year.
Why are they so optimistic? Well, it is not because consumers are suddenly buying up all the desktops. Intel expects companies to start replacing their PCs with more up-to-date systems this year. They are also expecting the trend of hybrid tablet/laptops to shift sales figures from the mobile to PC market segments. We are sure it’s just a coincidence that the recently released Intel powered Microsoft Surface 3 Pro happens to be the current flagship of these “two-in-one” devices.
This is by no means speculation either, as Intel is planning for this to drive revenue for the 2014 fiscal year. This includes them repurchasing $4 billion in stock as a sign of their confidence in the “two-in-one” device providing a turnaround source of income. Sales for the PC market within Intel rose by 6% and data center group sales by 19%. Seems to us like Intel is just banking on this trend continuing.
Source: Reuters