AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - Aug 28, 2017) - Spiceworks, the professional network for IT, today announced the results of a new study examining the current usage of and future investments in business PCs and mobile devices across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The study, The Future of the PC, revealed that while business investments in smartphones and tablets are growing in some cases, the vast majority of employees still use laptops and desktops as their primary work device, and organizations aren't planning to shift investments away from traditional PCs in the foreseeable future. The findings also indicate Dell is the most commonly used PC brand in organizations, followed by HP Inc. and Lenovo, but emerging PC players like Microsoft are expected to see a major boost in the next year.
Among organizations surveyed, an average of 60 percent of employees currently use desktops as their primary work device. Laptops are used by 27 percent of employees as their primary device, followed by thin clients (5 percent), tablets (3 percent), smartphones (2 percent), and 2-in-1s (2 percent). In terms of future business investments, the results indicate that while desktop investments are expected to be relatively flat in the next 12 months, 43 percent of businesses expect to increase their laptop investments. Mobile devices, such as tablets (25 percent), smartphones (16 percent), and 2-in-1s (18 percent) are expected to see about half the growth of laptops.
"Although many predict the popularity of mobile devices will lead to the 'death of the PC,' this prophecy won't become a reality anytime soon in the corporate world," said Peter Tsai, senior technology analyst at Spiceworks. "It's true that desktop PCs will become less prevalent in the near future, giving way to laptops, but tablets and smartphones still face usability challenges that prevent them from enabling key tasks in the workplace. So for the foreseeable future, traditional PCs will remain dominant while tablets and smartphones serve as complementary devices."
IT professionals don't expect mobile devices to replace PCs in the foreseeable future
Among IT professionals who influence the purchase decisions of end user devices at their organization, 53 percent believe most employees will not use a mobile device as their primary device in the foreseeable future. Respondents who think it could happen believe a mobile-dominated workplace is at least three to five years off.
As to why organizations are sticking with laptops and desktops, the research shows IT professionals believe mobile devices are adequate for browsing the web and viewing documents, but more limited when it comes to other business functions, such as inputting data, and creating, editing, and saving documents.
PC usage in organizations: Dell most commonly used PC brand
When examining PC brand usage in the workplace, the results show among organizations surveyed, 47 percent of laptops and desktops are from Dell, followed by HP (21 percent), Lenovo (14 percent), and Apple (4 percent). Additionally, Microsoft-branded PCs are more commonly used in businesses than those made by Acer or ASUS. Three percent of laptops and desktops are manufactured by Microsoft, followed by Acer and ASUS at one percent each.
In terms of future PC investments, the results indicate the top ranking vendors will stay the same in the near future, but some new players are emerging. Within the next 12 months, 25 percent of companies plan to increase their investments in Dell PCs, while 17 percent and 13 percent plan to increase spending with HP Inc. and Lenovo, respectively. Among other players, the results show 15 percent of organizations plan to increase their investments in Microsoft PCs, while 8 percent plan to spend more on Apple laptops and desktops.
Factors driving PC purchase decisions: Reliability most important
Spiceworks also examined what factors IT professionals deem most important when choosing the PC brands to buy for their organization. The results show computer reliability is the most important factor. Eighty-seven percent of IT professionals said reliability is very to extremely important in the decision-making process, followed by performance (68 percent), security (62 percent), and cost (54 percent). Other factors, such as manageability (48 percent), user-friendliness (42 percent), and ease of repair (37 percent), were considered slightly less important, but innovative features (9 percent) and style (4 percent) were considered the least important factors.
IT professionals were also asked to select one attribute they most closely associate with each PC manufacturer. The results indicate Dell, HP Inc., and Lenovo have the highest scores for reliability, the most important attribute. Thirty-four percent of IT professionals associate Dell with reliability, while 28 percent and 23 percent associate HP Inc. and Lenovo with being reliable, respectively. This ranking aligns with reported PC brand usage.
Among other notable trends, the data shows Acer has the highest score for cost effectiveness, and Apple has the highest score for style. Thirty-two percent of IT professionals associate Acer with being cost effective, and 31 percent associate Apple with being stylish.
Methodology
The survey was conducted in July 2017 and included 998 IT professionals across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom who influence the purchase decisions of end user devices at their organization. Respondents are among the millions of IT professionals in Spiceworks and represent a variety of company sizes, including small- to-medium-sized businesses and enterprises. Respondents also come from a variety of industries including manufacturing, healthcare, nonprofits, education, retail, government, and finance. For more information and a complete list of survey results, visit https://community.spiceworks.com/networking/articles/2764.
About Spiceworks Voice of IT
Spiceworks' Voice of IT shares statistics, trends, and opinions collected from millions of IT professionals on the global technology issues that are important to them. For other Spiceworks Voice of IT reports visit: www.spiceworks.com/research.
About Spiceworks
Spiceworks is the professional network millions of IT professionals use to connect with one another and thousands of technology brands. The company simplifies how IT professionals discover, buy and manage an estimated $600 billion in technology products and services each year. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Spiceworks is backed by Adams Street Partners, Austin Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Goldman Sachs, Shasta Ventures and Tenaya Capital. For more information visit http://www.spiceworks.com.
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