The fast-growing billion dollar global eSports economy drove worldwide gaming monitor sales up +175% in the second quarter of 2017 compared to the previous year, while worldwide shipments of desktop monitors declined by -3%, driven by lower sales in China, according to the latest figures from CONTEXT, the global IT market analysis company. Sales performance across the world varied considerably by region, reports CONTEXT. Desktop monitor shipments to EMEA grew by +5%, driven by CEE, which saw +12% growth. North America and Japan saw shipments up +2% and +4% respectively. However, those to the rest of the world, 52% of the total, declined, with the biggest market, China, decreasing by -11% year-on-year. The decline was greatest in the business desktop monitor segment, dropping -4%, while the fall in consumer-based sales was smaller at -3%. "Despite the overall negative trend, there are significant opportunities for growth", commented Dominika Koncewicz, Senior Analyst for Displays at CONTEXT. "These are due to factors such as a shift to larger, more expensive screens, the rising sales of curved monitors, higher resolution displays, and the growing demand for wider 21:9 monitors as well as the demand for gaming monitors."
Full-HD monitors remain the dominant resolution accounting for two-thirds of global shipments. WQHD screen sales are growing at +58% year-on-year, while Ultra HD monitors still represent a small portion of the market. However, with a +77% year-on-year sales increase, this has become the fastest growing resolution category. Dell retained its position as the top vendor in Q2 2017 with a 19% unit share of the total market, while HP and Lenovo followed with shares of 14% and 10% respectively.
| Q2 2017 shipments (units) | YoY |
| Central East Europe | +13% |
| West Europe | +5% |
| Japan | +4% |
| North America | +2% |
| World | -3% |
| Middle East and Africa | -4% |
| Asia and Pacific | -8% |
| Latin America | -10% |
| China | -11% |
| Q2 2017 shipments (units) | YoY |
| Sweden | +21% |
| Denmark | +21% |
| Netherlands | +20% |
| Germany | +13% |
| Portugal | +12% |
| Spain | +12% |
| Belgium | +8% |
| Poland | +7% |
| Switzerland | +3% |
| United Kingdom | +3% |
| France | +2% |
| Finland | -1% |
| Italy | -1% |
| Greece | -2% |
| Iceland | -9% |
| Norway | -11% |
| Austria | -12% |
| Ireland | -15% |