IDC reports the global market for gaming desktops, notebooks and monitors will reach 42.1 million units in 2019-- an 8.2% increase over 2018, thanks to increasing consumer interest, the rising popularity of esports and new hardware from GPU vendors.

The market is set to grow even further in the near future, reaching 61.1m by 2023 with a CAGR of 9.8% for the 5-year forecast period.

But what makes a "gaming PC"? IDC defines the category as "desktops or notebooks that have a premium or performance-grade GPU," specifically of the mid-range or high-end Nvidia or AMD kind. The analyst excludes professional-grade GPUs, such as the Quadro or Radeon Pro lines. Similarly, gaming monitors feature a 100Hz or higher refresh rate.

According to Gartner, global device shipments-- bringing together PCs, tablets and mobile phones-- are to total 2.21 billion in 2019 with essentially flat growth over 2018, as PCs remain on a downward trend while mobile phones are set to return to growth in 2020.

"For the eighth consecutive year, the PC market is at a standstill," the analyst says. “PC shipments will total 258 million units in 2019, a -0.6% decline from 2018. Traditional PCs are set to decline -3% in 2019 to total 189m units."

Consumers are increasingly retiring PCs but not purchasing replacements, leading to shipments dropping by another 2.5m units in 2019. On the business side, Windows 10 migration continues into the next phase as Windows 7 support is scheduled to end in January 2020. As a result, Gartner predicts Windows 10 will make 75% of the professional PC market by 2021.

According to IDC, global shipments of personal computing devices (PCD)-- comprising traditional PCs and tablets-- are to decline by -3.3% in 2019, before the market shrinks to 372.6 million units in 2023 with a CAGR of -1.2%.

Detachables are set to grow "modestly" over the 5-year forecast period, with a CAGR of 4.6%. IDC says the product category should see a stronger impact in the commercial segment, as vendors increasingly focus on the enterprise and education markets for sales. Education-centric Chrome-based devices are to find some traction as detachable Chrome tablets enter the scene.

On the other hand slate tablets are to continue declining with a CAGR of -4.4%. The market is becoming increasingly concentrated around the holiday quarters, and competition from key players has lead to more brands either reducing their presence or exiting the market altogether.

According to Jon Peddie Research (JPR) the news is not too good for the GPU market-- global shipments are down by -3.3% on a Y-o-Y basis (or by -2.65% Q-o-Q), with all major vendors seeing declines.

In fact, Nvidia shipments see a -7.6% Q-o-Q drop, AMD shipments are down by -6.8% Q-o-Q and Intel shipments see a -0.7% Q-o-Q decline. The two big vendors also see a drop in market share, as AMD and Nvidia market share decreased by -0.6% and -0.82% respectively. On the other hand Intel market share is up by 1.4%.