What you need to know
Mintel estimates the desktop, laptop and tablet market to be valued at £3.06 billion, marking a decline of 2% on the 2018 figure. A bigger decline was expected, but Apple’s success in its tablet sector since October 2018 has provided a helping hand for the market.
Desktops continue to struggle as consumers seek more stylish, portable alternatives, although the rapidly growing competitive gaming sector could help to reinvigorate desktop sales.
Consumers, particularly Millennials, are increasingly favouring hybrid laptops or buying a keyboard for their tablets as they look to turn them into more than just media consumption devices. At home, despite tablets being typically perceived as primarily media consumption devices, people still prefer to use their laptops for most media consumption-related tasks. They are, however, beginning to use their tablets more for work purposes. Major brands such as Apple and Samsung have also been pushing the productivity use cases for their devices, through branding, developing software and availability of more PC-style accessories.
The laptop market is still experiencing moderate decline, although Chromebooks are gaining in popularity. Manufacturers could be hoping that 5G provides an incentive for consumers to upgrade their laptops, although their appeal, initially at least, is likely to be restricted to those using laptops a lot for working out of home.
Products covered in this Report
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
‘Desktop’ refers to computers intended for use at a single location. It covers tower units and all-in-ones with an integrated display.
‘Laptop’ refers to computers which have the display and primary input devices integrated into one unit and are intended for mobile use. The term covers notebooks, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks, netbooks, detachable and convertible laptops.
‘Tablet’ refers to a computer with an integrated touchscreen that is intended to be a primary input device. The term covers slate form factor tablets as well as hybrid tablets that come with a detachable keyboard and can be transformed into a laptop form factor.
