Worldwide thin client and terminal client device shipments totalled 1,2-million units in the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13) – a decrease of 8,4% from the same quarter a year ago, and 14,2% lower than IDC forecast for the quarter.
However, IDC expects the market to recover over the remainder of the year, with 5,6-million units forecast to be shipped in 2013, representing 7% year-over-year growth for the year.
By 2017, these devices are expected to reach 9,2-million units shipped worldwide, according to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Client Device Tracker.
“With increasing adoption of cloud and virtualisation, growth is expected in all form factors, including mobile and with liquid crystal display (LCD), although standalone will still dominate,” says Jennifer Song, research analyst: Worldwide Trackers at IDC.
“The US will continue to capture the majority of the market and is expected to grow, but the strongest growth will be in China. These two major markets will lead the shift towards virtualization in the commercial segment.”
Technology highlights from the report include:
* Thin clients make up the vast majority (96%) of enterprise client devices;
* The standalone form factor constitutes the largest segment of the overall market at 89% share. The mobile form factor is growing the fastest in Japan. Thin clients with LCD are dominant in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan – APeJ), the US, and Western Europe; and
* Thin clients without operating systems (zero clients) hold 24% share among the thin client segment. Linux-based thin clients are slightly larger at 25%.
“The worldwide enterprise client device market is highly concentrated, with the top five firms capturing more than 74% of the total market,” says Rajani Singh, research analyst: personal computing at IDC.
HP continued to rank number one in 1Q13 with 28,2% worldwide market share. It also ranks first in four out of eight regions.
While Dell held the number two position with 24,7% worldwide market share in 1Q13, it was the number one vendor in the US, which is the largest region.
Despite being ranked number three worldwide, NComputing was the number two vendor in APeJ and the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
Centerm continued to hold the number one position in the APeJ market for 1Q13, with 28% share. It has been the leader in this region since the first quarter of 2012, previously competing with NComputing and HP for leadership in the region.
Igel saw the biggest annual growth among the top five vendors with a 10% year-over-year increase at the worldwide level.