The reports of the demise of PC gaming have been greatly exaggerated, and as the statistics start to become more accurate in nature, we see that the exact opposite is true. This year the PC hardware and gaming market is rated at 24 Billion dollars, but according to a research report by JPR (via Fudzilla) – it will grow to a 30 Billion dollar industry by the end of 2018. To clarify, we are taking about the PC market that deals exclusively with gaming hardware (Nvidia, AMD etc) and not with the broad spectrum general PC market.

PC hardware and gaming market to experience boom - growth of $6 Billion expected in 3 years (JPR)

One of the primary problems with the wide-spread analyst reports, that we know so well (and laugh about), is the fact that they were not able to distinguish between the niche PC gaming market and the general PC market. In fact, the PC Hardware and Gaming market is actually growing. It has been at the 24 Billion dollar mark for 2014 and even this year, but it is expected to grow $2 Billion dollar a year to a full-fledged $30 billion dollar market by the end of 2018.

"In addition to the cost of the new display technology (27 inch and larger 4K/UHD displays are reaching mass market pricing levels), gamers are going to need the computing muscle to drive Triple A game engines at over 60 frames per second, and that horsepower comes at a premium. Sixty frames per second is considered the gold standard in PC gaming and many prefer even faster speeds, at least twice that number if VR is involved. " President of JPR, Jon Peddie

The peripherals part of the PC gaming market is expected to make a cool $3.6 Billion dollars just in 2015. Unlike the majority of its mother industry, this particular portion has a relatively short cycle time since gamers tend to wear out keyboards and headsets much faster than say a graphic card or a monitor.

Mr Peddie makes some other interesting points as well (Something I personally disagree with, but then again, I am not the one who owns a successful research company). He believes that the mainstream gaming notebook and desktop segments will have to fight with tiny “game optimized pc” (I can only imagine that he is referring to the Steam Machines concept) including the Alienware. Although it is true that Steam OS will see an advent in the coming years, the intrinsic nature of the enthusiast market remains one of DIY. So while steam machines and clones of it should become widespread the core market itself should grow simultaneously. (Caution: Opinion) I don't see a future where the enthusiast market competes with Steam Machines.

The report also mentions that PC gamers will soon be undergoing the eventual shift from 1080p monitors to either 1440p or 4K – something which in itself is expected to generate a lot of revenue. The vast majority of the PC market is currently on the 1920x1080 resolution but this should change in the next few years. In fact with the onset of Oculus Rift and the massive graphical requirement of the same, I wouldn't be surprised if this report actually comes to pass - or is even exceeded.