As 2017 comes to a close it is as good a time as any to take a look back at the times that have been, be it through the goings on of the PC market or what retailers have been up to...

• EMEA PC Market Shows "Signs of Strength": The news surrounding the PC market hasn't been wholly bad in 2017, as EMEA shipments were "almost" flat. According to IDC Q3 2017 shipments were down by just -0.5% Y-o-Y, with showings of "clear signs of strength" particularly in notebooks and the enterprise segment.  Continue reading...

Virtual reality headset shipments hit a record in Q3 2017, Canalys reports-- 1 million units, proof the device category is not slowing down... at least for now, at any rate.

Leading the Q3 2017 market is Sony, with PlayStation VR (PS VR) shipments reaching 490000. Following is Oculus with 210000 Rift headsets (with a summer sale boosting shipments) and HTC with 160000 Vive VR units. Together the 3 companies make 86% of the total market for the quarter.

“VR adoption in the consumer segment is highly dependent on price, and Oculus’ strategy of lowering prices has definitely helped drive adoption,” the analyst says. “Hugo Barra is betting on his next product, the $199 Oculus Go standalone headset, to reach more users next year. The Go will excite first-time users, but driving adoption beyond social media will be a challenge.”

Global PC, tablet and smartphone shipments are to reach 2.35 billion units in 2018, Gartner reports-- a 2% increase over 2017, the highest growth rate since 2015.

The analyst also has the results of an online survey of users in the US, UK, Germany, China and India. It shows users still do a lot tasks on PCs, with 40% of respondents using PCs or tablets for certain daily tasks (such as reading or writing detailed emails, or watching video), while 34% use a smartphone for the convenience while on the move.

However users continue holding on to PCs for longer, even as they replace smartphones on a more frequent basis. As a result, traditional PC shipments are forecast to decline by -4.4% in 2018, while mobile phones will grow by 2.4%. The PC market does have a bright spot in PC business shipments returning to growth by end 2017, thanks to faster Windows 10 replacements in regions such as W. Europe.

According to IDC, W. European PCD (Personal Computing Device, covering both traditional PCs and tablets) shipments will total 79.2 million units in 2017, a -2.6% decrease.

The analyst combines desktop PC, notebook and workstation shipments with slate and detachable tablets. Some products, such as convertibles, ultraslims and detachables, are to expand until at least 2021, making 43.3% of the overall PCD market by then, compared with 21.9% at end 2016. This is the result of users across both consumer and enterprise segments going for thinner and lighter devices, instead of traditional solutions.

As a result, the traditional PC market will still decline over the next 5 years, wheras the tablet market will show "some" resilience and stabilise over the forecast period.

The commercial PCD segment is to perform well, with a "slight" decrease by end 2017 before a return to positive growth by 2018 (1.2%). Growth should reach 6.4% in 2020, with SMBs as main driver. On the other hand the consumer segment should decline further until 2021, even if "not significantly." The longer lifespan of devices affects the consumer market, although some new form factors will be adopted, such as convertibles.