Far from the personal computing era being over, young consumers — those between 18 and 24 — are the most pro-PC of all age groups in 2016 and are “very unlikely” to abandon the PC as a platform.
This is a key finding in Deloitte Global’s new TMT Predictions 2016 report.
According to research by Deloitte member firms, on average more than 85% of youngsters in the 18-24 age group — who Deloitte calls “trailing millennials” — in 13 developed markets surveyed had a laptop in 2015. This is only slightly lower than the percentage — 89% — who had access to a smartphone. (The research does not extend to emerging markets, where smartphones predominate.)
Access to a laptop among trailing millennials was 7% higher than for the population as a whole, and in some countries was much higher than the average: 17% in the US, for example, according to Deloitte.
“It appears that 18-24 year-olds consider smartphones and PCs as complements, not substitutes. This may be partly because laptops are more affordable than they once were, with many sub-US$500 devices available,” Deloitte says in its report.
“The large screens, keyboards and trackpads or mice of the laptop provide an ease of input and display that is superior to even the largest ‘phablet’. It appears millennials (and other age groups) are more than willing to have a laptop open in front of them and hold a smartphone in their other hand.”
Trailing millennials in developed countries are overlooking large-format tablets in favour of a smartphone/PC combination, the company says.
Purchase intent for PCs may be at a lower level than for smartphones, along with every other device, but laptops are still the second-most desired device in every country surveyed.
Roughly a third of 18-24 year-olds in developed countries planned to buy a new smartphone in the next 12 months, and a quarter intended to buy a new laptop.
“That number is roughly double the percentage of other devices one might expect a post-PC generation to be thinking about buying, such as tablets, wearables or portable games players.”
Millennials are mostly using PCs to play games, watch longer-form video, download or stream content, and create or edit content.
“When we look at how PCs compete with tablets or smartphones, and how they are used by demographic groups, it might be those aged 55 and over who are more likely to become the post-PC generation,” Deloitte says.
“As today’s 18-24 year-olds grow older, it seems likely that their PC use may rise when they are 25-34, and then possibly increase again when they are 35-49, which is the age group that currently uses computers the most per day in the US,” it adds.
“After that, and as they begin to spend less time playing complex PC-based games, moving increasingly to legal sources of content, and shift from being content creators to spending more time exclusively consuming or reviewing content, their PC usage is likely to fall and shift towards tablets.” — © 2016 NewsCentral Media