facebook rss twitter

Gaming laptop growth pauses as 4K Desktop PCs ignite interest

by Mark Tyson on 22 October 2015, 13:01

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacvnl

Add to My Vault: x

PC market research specialist Jon Peddie Research (JPR) has just released a new report on the state of the worldwide gaming PC market. The report indicates that the market for gaming laptops has now become challenging. However as one door closes, or rather the hinges get very stiff, another opens, as a trend of PC gamers upgrading for 4K experiences has been identified. With these observations and the market data under its belt, JPR says that the overall PC gaming market will recede slightly overall as this year closes but will pick up pace again to grow in 2016.

PC Gaming Hardware Market

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Total – numbers in millions

$24,936

$24,684

$26,118

$28,253

$30,092

 

Commenting upon the findings Ted Pollak, Senior Analyst at JPR wrote "This cycle, unlike any for the past fifteen years, will inspire gamers to upgrade their displays. 27 inch and larger 4K/UHD displays are reaching mass market pricing levels and produce an incredible experience allowing much wider field of view and greater detail." Pollak thinks gamers will be willing to fork out "billions of dollars" in the coming years on these upgrades for their PCs.

Of course the 4K gaming experience on a PC isn't just down to acquiring the right kind of monitor. To accompany their new displays, cramming in nearly 10 million pixels, a gamer will be required to pick up associated performance hardware like modern CPUs and GPUs. If the PC system isn't suitably power balanced with appropriate components it will simply perform in a disappointing fashion with the latest 4K enabled PC games. JPR reckons PC gamers will be aiming to achieve frame rates of at least 60fps on their 4K setups in new AAA games titles.

The gaming laptop market has been challenged on a number of fronts. Over recent years it has been seen to be a bright spot in the pre-assembled PC market with chances to up-sell and make better margins than with standard laptops. Now it seems like every systems builder has piled in, and players are competing more keenly with pricing. Another problem could be market saturation – everyone who wants one has one, more or less - as simple as that. JPR also notes gamers on the go are sometimes simply resorting to eminently portable, battery sipping smartphones and tablets.

HEXUS Forums :: 7 Comments

Login with Forum Account

Don't have an account? Register today!
Posted by gwp - Thu 22 Oct 2015 15:20
I've looked at a few gaming laptops, and there's always the same concerns. The high end ones don't come with SSDs as standard, and where they do offer the option, it's always low end ones with small capacities. Most also offer only 16gb ram max. You won't see 64gb.

They don't offer the option to choose your thermal paste, and they won't offer more than a 3 year warranty, which is usually return to base instead of onsite.

Most laptops also have the air exhaust port on the left or right side instead of the back, so you have the fan noise during gaming always on one ear.

Offtopic but are there any 15 to 19 inch IPS monitors that you can angle back like a laptop screen, and that sit down touching the table when straight?
Posted by qasdfdsaq - Thu 22 Oct 2015 16:41
gwp
I've looked at a few gaming laptops, and there's always the same concerns. The high end ones don't come with SSDs as standard, and where they do offer the option, it's always low end ones with small capacities.
Ermm, the high-end ones ONLY come with SSDs…

Most laptops also have the air exhaust port on the left or right side instead of the back, so you have the fan noise during gaming always on one ear.
Most gaming laptops have two exhaust ports, one on each side of the rear.

What have you been looking at, 2006 models?

And frankly, you're clutching at straws if you're thinking “asymmetric fan noise” is a major drawback…
Posted by plexabit - Fri 23 Oct 2015 05:33
qasdfdsaq
gwp
I've looked at a few gaming laptops, and there's always the same concerns. The high end ones don't come with SSDs as standard, and where they do offer the option, it's always low end ones with small capacities.
Ermm, the high-end ones ONLY come with SSDs…

Most laptops also have the air exhaust port on the left or right side instead of the back, so you have the fan noise during gaming always on one ear.
Most gaming laptops have two exhaust ports, one on each side of the rear.

What have you been looking at, 2006 models?

And frankly, you're clutching at straws if you're thinking “asymmetric fan noise” is a major drawback…

Not only that, but there's a lot of people (xoticpc, etc) that will apply custom thermal paste for you (for a price)…
Posted by AlexKitch - Fri 23 Oct 2015 11:23
My problem with gaming laptops is that they're just so dreadful.

They overheat, they're noisy, they're underpowered, they're heavy, and the batteries last five minutes. I could forgive most of that if they weren't so obscenely *expensive*!
Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH - Fri 23 Oct 2015 12:25
The major problem with gaming laptops is that there is no defined standards for replaceable graphics,or even external graphics cards, adopted by all the companies,and even when MXM cards are used they are hard to buy and there can be incompatibility issues.

SEE NEWER »