Mini PCs, Major Growth

Mini PCs are fast emerging as a viable solutions across different domains

A study by IDC shows continuing demand for desktop PCs despite the continuous shift to mini-PC’s, mobility and the proliferation of portable devices such as ultra slim notebooks, convertibles, and tablets.  The most important factors in the decision to buy a desktop PC are higher performance, better durability, longer lifespan, and lower prices. Lower price and better resilience definitely make desktop the best choice for companies that have limited budgets and that require solutions for non-mobile office employees. On the other hand, desktops’ higher security will benefit businesses that operate in industries such as insurance, finance, and banking, as well as government agencies.

But now the era has changed and the trends has uniformed. Even as the sales of global PCs market dip every quarter, there has been a slow and steady demand for mini PCs from organisations who want to save space and office expenses. Small form factors and mini PCs are key to the future of client computing, with companies increasingly looking at these devices. These smaller products have become more popular as companies are increasingly looking to implement solutions that will save desk space and energy. Specific industries are also planning to deploy mini PCs for digital signage technology or Internet kiosks, which continue to gain presence. In addition, for companies that want to upgrade or customize their PCs over time, the increasing availability of customizable mini PCs is likely to boost their adoption in the future.

Talking about the area of demands from where the demand is mainly coming from institutional users, though there is also a growing craze among individual users. There is a growing demand mostly for usages such as PoS (Point of Sales) terminals; labs at educational institutions; kiosk at malls , airports or other public places to give information; hospitals; thin client; HTPC (Home Theatre PC); digital signage; etc.

The mini –pc’s market opens up new possibilities for digital signage businesses that require a 4K display solution capable of delivering an ultra-realistic, high definition visual experience. It can be utilised for various commercial applications, such as vending machines, factory testing machines, gaming equipment, security system, and bank ATM systems, among others.

Also, it can function as an ultimate graphics powerhouse for playing the latest 3D games, for multimedia production, video editing, etc. The reasons for the demand are all about saving space, power, space and expenses related to IT hardware.

Many organisations have been for long, using a large number of PC-related hardware for managing a large quantum of data. This requires massive space for the hardware, leading to huge expenditure for installation and maintenance. Such organizations are now seeking easier-to-manage options like the mini PCs. Mini PCs can ensure massive savings in space and office expenditure.

“Sunil Grewal, Director, Gigabyte Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd. said, “The demand is there from sectors Banking & Financial Services Industry (BFSI), educational institutions, hospitals, departmental stores, shopping malls, concerns using PoS (Point of Sales) terminals, and small offices, among others. For small offices, mini PCs can be of great value as it has low cost of operations. They can also make savings on the manpower.  And there are individual users who are tech-savvy. The mini-PC gives them a simple and affordable option to play PC games and to enjoy video and audio”.

It’s a bit early to predict now. But it is definitely a growing trend. We foresee a significant growth in this segment in the coming years. Currently, most of our sales have come from the Delhi-NCR and Mumbai regions” he added.

Rajshekhar Bhatt, County Manager, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) shared his views and said, “We believe that the concept of mini PC is a fast growing trend within the Indian tech-savvy community. Users who are at home, even at office are looking for the most convenient way to enjoy video, music, gaming and business PC usage. These needs are used to design a device to provide the best possible video and audio, ensure extremely efficient power consumption, offer sufficient cooling, and maintain low noise levels. People want the truly entertainment and stylish look in small size without compromising on performance for home and office. I can proudly say that only LIVA can make it happen”.

Now companies are keen to focus on mini pc market. As ECS has focused on the mini system in recent years. According to the company, since 2013, ECS LIVA mini PC series has won lots of awards and received positive feedback from worldwide media and customers. In short we have not stopped by designing 1 or 2 models infact a full series of mini PC are available from ECS for every price & performance segment.

According to Ravi Pande, Sun Corporation, Kanpur, market is shifting from desktop to mini-pc and also it has been seen that the growth of this market is tremendously booming. “The era has changed and user wants to save space and cost. That has result the mini-pc market is a new trend. We all can notice that the all around out there in internet cafes, Educational institutes, shopping malls, banks, hospitals and departmental stores are adopting the new trend of mini-pc and also partners also focusing on this market where the demands of mini-pc is coming from”.

For the ECS perspective, in 2016, ECS and Intel co-developed a brand new form factor solution – a MINI STX motherboard into the DIY desktop market. Its’ size is 29% smaller than MINI ITX, but keeps the hardware configuration of a traditional DIY motherboard. The size of LIVA Pro with MINI STX motherboard is only 1.3 liters! Supporting Intel’s latest Core i processors, and standard LGA115x coolers and featuring DDR4 SO-DIMMs up to 32GB! In addition, it supports USB 3.0 with the Type-C connector, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity, dual display outputs via HDMI and DisplayPort, and 2.5” HDD/SSD.  LIVA Pro brings great flexibility and performance into the mini PC market to satisfy more users’ requirements.

GIGABYTE India have also focusing in the same and recently they has added to its existing number of Authorized Collection Centers (ACCs) and Special Service Providers (SSPs).  While ACCs are basically GIGABYTE partners, SSP centers are manned by GIGABYTE service personnel who directly interact with end-users.

Company has GIGABYTE exclusive service centres in major cities, such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad. These centres are also regional service hubs for their respective zones and are equipped with the latest repair equipment and software solutions to facilitate sophisticated testing and troubleshooting.

However companies are keeping expanding the Mini PC family with perpetually comprehensive designs and innovations. Smaller size, more features and performance are transformed in each of generation. In short, the mini-PC comes as a smart solution especially because it optimizes power consumption, while offering tremendous processing power and connectivity in a form factor that is small enough to be placed anywhere – whether on your desk or even within your home entertainment setup.