Higher Education Mobile and Desktop PC Shipments Achieved Steady Growth in H1 2022

Higher education institutions made preparations for a return to in-person learning during the first half of 2022, with a new report from Futuresource Consulting tracking progress in key regions. The report, which focuses on 20 key countries across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, reveals that mobile and desktop device shipments increased by 2.5% year-on-year in H1, driven by delayed refresh cycles and focus on retaining hybrid work arrangements.

“As well as welcoming domestic students back onto campuses, we saw a reopening of teaching to overseas students,” says Iryna Kazanchuk, Market Analyst, Futuresource Consulting. “All this activity triggered a number of pre-COVID buying patterns for the PC market, with desktops in particular experiencing a resumption of market activity in several countries.

“The activity was enough to register an overall increase in PC shipments for all the reviewed markets combined. However, it was mostly down to the overdue refresh cycles that were planned pre-pandemic. Within the mobile device segment, notebooks continued to maintain market leadership.”

Unused Stimulus Budgets Helped to Keep Momentum of Purchasing of New and Refresh Devices

Some federal and municipal funding provided to universities to improve pandemic-driven teaching disruptions remained unspent. As a result, universities are making the most of the remaining funds and purchasing the highest spec devices available.

Hybrid Working is Here to Stay for Admin and Academic Staff

For admin and academic staff, Futuresource research shows that universities are aiming to preserve the benefits of hybrid and remote working, offering a much more flexible work schedule than was possible before the pandemic. This strategy is helping to maintain demand for both mobile PCs and collaboration tools.

Positive Prospects for Higher Education PCs

“The higher education PC market continues to grow,” says Kazanchuk. “It’s travelling a steady upward course, with our forecasts showing the total combined shipments across all 20 countries will expand by 2.5% this year. Moving forward, we also expect a volume CAGR growth of 1.5% between 2022 and 2027.”

For further information or to purchase the Higher Education PC Market Track report from Futuresource Consulting, please contact ben.thurssell@futuresource-hq.com