I recently talked about the PC’s revival – that trend is slowing, as shipments decreased 5% in the fourth quarter of 2021 versus 2020. Overall for the year, however, Canalys reports they are up 15% year over year and 27% over 2019. That puts shipments at their highest point in nearly a decade.
I’m going to combine that with two other thoughts today.
First, an Enterprise Strategy Group report points to “higher levels of digital transformation maturity and suggests that digitally mature companies lead the pack when it comes to planned IT investment. “ The ESG research showed that the portion of enterprises citing digital maturity has doubled over the past four years — 26% of the respondents. Most companies with mature transformation projects plan to expand tech spending this year: 69% of organizations in the mature category are expected to boost spending above 2021 levels. That portion dropped to 59% for companies in the project planning phase and 18% for companies yet to embark on digital transformation.
The other is a look at the Wall Street Journal essay about repurposing offices as “clubhouses” or social spaces, and a follow on one in TechRepublic considering that for technology companies.
Why do we care?
My story here… we see the change in both ways, and locations employees work, and I think it’s fair to observe that desktop PCs have a better cost to power ratio. You get more for less, and if employees aren’t moving around or need to be in two locations, it makes sense to give them desktops—one more piece of savings in this whole shift.
The ESG data points to my idea of haves and have nots. Those who have moved through and beyond digital transformation are in a very different place than those still planning. If we link that to the pandemic overall… there appears to be a group of companies that will be further behind.