The total worldwide PC monitor market shipped more than 29 million units in the first quarter of 2016 (1Q16), up 0.5% year over year but a decrease of 5.7% compared to the previous quarter, according to new data from IDC (www.idc.com).


The research group expects the global monitor market will continue to decline at rates around 3% year over year from 2018 through 2020. However, there should be some pockets of growth along the way, as illustrated by the Middle East and Africa region, which experienced its second sequential gain in a row, recording 3.8% quarter-over-quarter growth in 1Q16, said Maura Fitzgerald, senior research analyst.

IDC currently forecasts 114 million PC monitor units will be shipped for full year 2016 and expects to see a year-over-year decline of 7.4% in worldwide shipments to 27.1 million units in the first quarter of 2017. By 2020, worldwide shipments are expected to be less than 100 million units as the adoption of mobile devices at lower price points is expected to continue. The IDC report also notes that:

° The presence of curved monitors is on the rise, with 1.2% market share in 1Q16. This represents year-over-year growth of 495%.

° Of the top 10 screen sizes, 23.8-inches wide and 31.5-inches wide saw the largest year-over-year growth, posting 91.4% and 183.2%, respectively, in 1Q16.

° Monitors with TV tuners are expected to grow 1.3% year-over-year to 5.7% market share in 2017, up from 5.1% in 2015, led by LG and Samsung with a combined market share of 99.0% in this category.