IDC’s latest data shows thin client shipments in China reached 184 000 units in 2016Q1, up by 1,7% year-on-year, while sales revenues stood at $48,3-million, up by 1,9% year-on-year.
While these numbers are modest, they are noteworthy compared with the lacklustre traditional business PC market.
The China thin client market shows growth prospects in the coming quarters. According to Jacky Xue, research manager: client systems research at IDC China: “IDC forecasts that China’s thin client market will maintain a CAGR of over 4% by 2020.
“This figure is higher than the growth of traditional business PCs. We are optimistic about the prospect of the thin client market as enterprises adapt their infrastructure to meet future needs.”
Further analysis shows the following development trends:
Comprehensive solutions that suit customers’ front-end needs
As enterprises’ IT application needs deepen, thin client solutions are increasingly understood and accepted by users in the process of reconstructing and upgrading existing mature IT architecture-based software and hardware solutions.
While making efforts to understand industry segments, hardware equipment vendors are also learning about customers’ most immediate, detailed needs and then developing the most comprehensive solutions to meet such needs.
Meanwhile, virtualisation vendors are engaging in closer cooperation with thin client vendors on the basis of providing existing standardised products, thus achieving the customization, upgrading and reconstruction of terminal systems.
Small size and cost savings
Greatly reduced electricity cost and IT management & maintenance cost are key factors favoring thin clients.
With developments at the technological level, thin client solutions will show greater advantages for enterprise customers.
Compared with traditional PC terminals, thin clients are often much smaller and can save space, while improving users’ office environment and experience.
Most thin clients are based on the PC architecture, but with very low power consumption, heat generation and noise. Meanwhile, thin clients generally offer longer mean time between failures (MTBF) than traditional PCs, thus reducing hardware maintenance cost.
In addition, thin clients enjoy a high level of system security and stability. Even if extreme circumstances occur, they can quickly restore to enterprises’ original application environment.
Rising market share for all sectors
In terms of sector-specific demand, IDC data show that applications are currently concentrated in the education and government sectors, accounting for 28% of the overall thin client market in 2016Q1, up by 13 percentage points year-on-year.
The financial sector had a market share of 29%, while dispersed business demands and manufacturing sector account for 40% of the market.
Healthcare and retail sectors both grew by more than 40% year-on-year but market share remains relatively small at the moment.