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.
The analyst says 2019 gaming desktop shipments are to total 15.5m-- a -1.9% Y-o-Y decline, although IDC expects a rebound for 2020 and beyond as new games embrace technologies such as Ray Tracing and game-related content creation continues to proliferate. Meanwhile gaming notebooks are forecast to grow 13.3% Y-o-Y to 20.1m in 2019, and gaming monitors should total 6.4m, a 21.3% Y-o-Y increase.
"With game streaming on the horizon and the continued rise of mobile gaming, the PC gaming market will face new challenges but also opportunities," IDC concludes. "There are plenty of reasons for optimism as issues around latency and bandwidth requirements will likely limit the success of gaming streaming services in the short term. And in contrast to mobile gaming, PC gaming has a larger library of so-called hardcore games, appealing to a different type of gamer."
