The proliferation with increased functionality of cheaper consumer devices we are seeing a mix shift across all consumer electronics. Consumers no longer need to buy a high end PC to use sophisticated applications software (spreadsheets, database queries, tax preparation, etc), or buy a high end tablet to view premium content (HD video, gaming, etc). We believe this will pressure pricing for all consumer computing systems, and slow growth for high end devices.
Workloads are being pushed into the cloud, increasing demand for data center hardware. Tasks that had typically been run on client devices are now being pushed onto servers in the cloud. We expect server and networking sales to grow meaningfully as consumers demand additional services and faster speeds to access content, even as their devices become less feature rich. The increasing workloads will be handled by data centers, which means higher processing, storage, networking and security requirements.
Connectivity is King. Network speed, ubiquity and reliability are essential in a cloud computing environment. We expect connectivity specifications in devices, networks and data centers to grow in the coming years as users demand “always connected” experiences even as their usage requirements grow.
Hyperscale data centers will need to grow in handling increasing demand from consumers. We also see increased competition from low cost workstations and micro-servers on premium parts of the PC market.