Thin and Terminal Client Outlook Lowered Further Due to Challenges

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The global thin and terminal client market deteriorated during the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15), declining -6.7% year over year, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC ) Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Client Device Tracker. Shipments continued to be hampered by strong deployments in 2014, but also ongoing economic and currency pressures in key parts of the market.

Combined with some persistent factors that negatively affected the market, including budget constraints that delayed major shipments in Asia/Pacific, the emerging markets continued to lag behind mature markets in terms of shipments and projected growth rates going forward. Furthermore, although the market is increasingly accepting of virtualized client computing, devices such as repurposed PCs and even Chromebooks in some cases, pose viable threats to mainstream thin client purchases.

In light of these challenges, IDC expects 2015 shipments to be more subdued than previously forecast, reaching just 5.1 million units for the year, a drop of more than -6% compared to 2014. IDC expects shipments to return to steady growth from 2016 through 2019, reaching 6.4 million units in 2019.

"Shipments in 2015 are expected to decline more than -6% year over year," said Ja y Chou , Research Manager, IDC Worldwide PC & Enterprise Client Device Tracker. "Beyond 2016, we remain optimistic that growth rates will pick up as another cycle of business refresh should fuel renewed growth."

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