Laptops with Full HD screens close to becoming mainstream

Market research by IHS suggests notebook makers are increasingly looking to higher-quality displays. Jason Hsu, senior principal analyst for the display chain at IHS, claims performance is no longer the key motivation for consumers to replace older PCs. Instead, OEMs hope quality of displays could become a major factor to spur replacement of PCs.

It seems laptops with 1366 x 768 screens will remain ubiquitous for many years to come but their marketshare is expected to decline significantly the coming years as Full HD is about to become the new 1366 x 768 in the laptop market. Adoption of panels with a screen resolution greater than Full HD is expected to remain fairly small outside the premium laptop market.

According to Hsu, the introduction by Microsoft of its high resolution Surfacebook last year is one reason higher definition displays are now becoming a key differentiator for premium notebook PCs.

Overall, the global notebook PC display market declined by 23% in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of 2015, according to IHS. Price erosion hit the PC market hard in 2015, with OEMs scrambling to produce low-cost notebooks to maintain their market share rather than rolling out innovative new designs, IHS said. Half of all notebook PCs sold in 2015 were priced below $500, and laptops costing $300 or less grew to encompass 15% of the total market in the fourth quarter, according to the firm.