The EMEA gaming PC (covering both desktops and notebooks) market is down by -4.9% Y-o-Y in Q1 2019, with shipments reaching 2 million units-- but the full-year 2019 is to see shipments of 9m units, a 6.8% increase.
Looking into the near future, by end 2023 the market is set to total 11.4m units with a 4-year CAGR of 6.1%.
"In W. Europe, the PC gaming market was constrained by high consumer inventory after a weaker 2018 holiday season, combined with the weakening of consumer confidence as a result of political uncertainties in major economies," the analyst says. "However, PC gaming will bounce back with strong growth in H2 2019, supported by the resolution of inventory issues and the anticipated price drops of key components such as panels and memory."
IDC defines gaming PCs as desktops or notebooks with a premium- or performance-grade GPU. As such, it includes midrange and high-end offerings from Nvidia and AMD, but not professional-grade GPUs such as the Quadro and Radeon Pro.
The CEMA PC gaming market is down by -8.2% in Q1 2019, with CEE and MEA both decreasing, if with a stronger contraction in the MEA region. The decline follows "strong" double-digit increases in 2017 and 2018 and the stagnation of Q4 2018, the result of economic and political challenges in both regions, as well as inventory pile-up in key CEE countries ahead of CPU shortages.
The analyst expects stronger gaming PC rates by end 2019, with new processors and graphics cards, as well as a wider gaming PC range, as key drivers. Desktop capacity to offer configurations with the highest technological specifications, and accessibility to adjust components as necessary, allows the category to maintain a strong foothold among hardcore gamers. Meanwhile the more casual gamers are shifting further towards notebooks, with performance-grade GPUs taking the lion's share of the market even as premium-grade GPUs grow in popularity as ASPs become more attractive.
Further boosting the market are interesting new form factors such as dual-screen notebooks. Early adopters should start picking up such machines in H2 2019 before stronger mainstream adoption in 2020.
IDC also points out eSports-- a phenomenon emerging across EMEA that is even drawing support from governments. Gaming festivals are also running on a regular basis. A combination of enhanced coverage and a continuous rollout of innovative online games is boosting consumer awareness of gaming, benefiting the market in the future.
