Research Shows Gaming Monitor and PC Trend Isn’t Over Yet

If you thought the increased interest in gaming-focused monitors, desktops, and laptops would wane as the pandemic subsides, you might want to keep your RGB gaming chair: the International Data. Corporation (IDC) predicts an additional four years of increased demand, with each segment growing faster than its parent market.

This week, the global researcher shared the latest figures from his Worldwide Quarterly Gaming Tracker and predicted that gaming monitor shipments will increase from 14.2 million screens in 2020 to 26.4 million in 2025 at a rate compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2%.

While the pandemic has resulted in a shortage of gaming hardware, from graphics cards to processors and even the latest consoles, gaming monitors were among the few pieces of serious hardware in stock for gamers. And with the mandatory shutdowns around the world, many people were just looking for something to do.

According to IDC, 41.3 million gaming PCs were shipped last year and 52.3 million will do the same in 2025, representing a growth rate of 4.8%.

“Increasingly accessible pricing and the ability to handle a variety of tasks outside of gaming are just a few of the reasons we expect the gaming PC market to remain healthy for years to come. “, Jay Chou, research director for IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Monitor Tracker. , said in a statement accompanying the IDC announcement.

IDC’s forecast comes as 2021 is already showing rising numbers, although there are still shortages of GPUs and other PC components and supply issues affecting displays. In Q2 2021, combined gaming monitor and gaming PC shipments increased 19.3% from Q2 2020 to total 15.6 million.

“The gaming market was on fire for years before the pandemic started in 2020, and things are only accelerating as most people were spending more time at home and in front of screens,” Ryan Reith, Group vice president of IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said in a statement.

IDC is confident that this trend will continue, even if the restrictions related to the pandemic are lifted and lead to lower demand in other markets, such as Chromebooks.

“At this point, the global supply shortage is well known and continues to be a moving target, but the demand for gaming hardware (PCs, consoles, monitors, etc.) and titles continues to increase,” said said Reith. “Many have speculated that as the reopening slowly begins around the world, this growth could be threatened, but we just don’t see it.”

So what does all of this add up to other than a lot of play credit? IDC believes the gaming monitor and PC market will be worth $ 60 billion in 2025, a big boost from the $ 43 billion in 2020.

Gaming monitors may even get cheaper. The average selling price (ASP) of a gaming screen was $ 339 in 2020, but will be slightly lower than $ 309 in 2025, IDC said.

However, we probably won’t have as much luck with gaming PCs. The ASP for gaming systems is expected to hit four-digit territory in 2025 at $ 1,007, up from $ 925 last year.