FRAMINGHAM, MA – Global shipments of gaming desktop and notebook PCs reached 10 million units in the third quarter, an increase of 10.1% year-over-year, according to International Data Corp.

Shipments of gaming monitors grew 76.4% year-over-year to 2.2 million units during the period.

In addition to growing demand, shipments of gaming PCs and monitors were boosted by the fear of additional US tariffs on imported notebooks and displays, leading to the channel taking on additional inventory to avoid potential price increases, says IDC. Fears of further Intel processor shortages, which have flared up and down in recent quarters, also was a factor.

"AMD's latest lineup of GPUs and CPUs has helped reinvigorate the market, providing gaming solutions at both the high end and the middle of the market and has generally provided more horsepower compared to the competition across multiple price points," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC's Mobile Device Trackers. "In doing so, AMD has also helped bolster the DIY segment, which had been in decline since as recently as the first quarter of 2019, and we expect the chip maker to continue to gain ground in the short term."

The market for gaming desktops will remain roughly flat through 2023, with a CAGR of -0.2%, as China and Western Europe increasingly move toward gaming notebooks. However, IDC expects global premium gaming desktops will remain a viable market as the form factor offering the best experience.

Growth in gaming notebooks will outpace desktops with a 7.4% CAGR, as the gaming audience increasingly prefers more mobile solutions, particularly thin and light gaming notebooks. Meanwhile, the increasing demand for faster frame rates, in conjunction with higher resolutions, will help drive demand for gaming monitors. As such, IDC expects the gaming monitor market to grow to 12.2 million units in 2023, a CAGR of 11.8%.

"Several factors influence IDC's view of a solid future for gaming monitors, both in the short and longer term," said Jay Chou, research manager for IDC's Personal Computing Device Tracker. "Aside from tariff concerns, recent overcapacity in the display component industry has lowered costs and helped expand the selection of larger-screened gaming models. Additional factors in the longer term, such as cloud-based gaming, could also benefit monitors, as the resulting gaming device expansion would need more robust displays."