Tech market will reach $8 trillion, predicts Michael Dell

While the PC market has been largely stagnant for the past several years, Michael Dell has been bullish on the technology market's potential, predicting that its total value could reach $8 trillion.

Speaking to press and analysts at the company's annual conference in Las Vegas, Dell Technologies' founder and CEO said that he believes current forecasts are actually undervaluing the market.

"I think the market, by the way, is going to grow. I think $3 trillion is wrong; I think it's going to be $4 trillion, $5 trillion, $8 trillion - because technology is right at the centre of everything."

This is despite figures from analyst firms like Gartner, which show that PC shipments have been continuously falling for three and a half years due to longer refresh cycles and more expensive hardware.

On the other hand, Dell's comments come off the back of a healthy period for his business; the company's vice president of products and operations Jeff Clarke announced that for the first quarter of 2018, Dell expects to increase its global share of the PC market for the 21st quarter in a row, as well as growing its server and storage market shares.

According to Gartner's estimates, Dell currently commands just under 20% of the global server market, pulling in revenues of $3.6 billion in Q4 last year. Main rival HPE is nipping at its heels, however, with a market share of 19.3% according to revenue.

"Our customers are responding to the power of our combined company, creating good momentum as we kick off 2018," said Jeff Clarke. "We have exciting announcements planned across our portfolio at this year's event that are driving this leadership and our customers' digital transformation, ultimately resulting in better business outcomes."

Adam Shepherd

Adam Shepherd has been a technology journalist since 2015, covering everything from cloud storage and security, to smartphones and servers. Over the course of his career, he’s seen the spread of 5G, the growing ubiquity of wireless devices, and the start of the connected revolution. He’s also been to more trade shows and technology conferences than he cares to count.

Adam is an avid follower of the latest hardware innovations, and he is never happier than when tinkering with complex network configurations, or exploring a new Linux distro. He was also previously a co-host on the ITPro Podcast, where he was often found ranting about his love of strange gadgets, his disdain for Windows Mobile, and everything in between.

You can find Adam tweeting about enterprise technology (or more often bad jokes) @AdamShepherUK.