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PC shipments to rise by 19 percent in 2010: Gartner
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 31 August 2010, 23:05 IST |
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Stamford: A rise in the shipments of PCs is being predicted in the year 2010. The increase in the percentage is expected to touch 19.2 with the number going to total 367.8 million units, according to the latest preliminary forecast by Gartner.
In 2009, the total number of PCs shipped was 308.3 million units. Although the PC market has revived a lot in the first six months of 2010, the market is set to face a litmus test in the coming months.
Ranjit Atwal, Research Director, Gartner said, "We have reduced our forecast for second-half 2010 PC growth to 15.3 percent, approximately 2 percent below our previous forecast, in light of the uncertain economic outlook for the United States and Western Europe."
Even when the economic recovery has made the consumers wary, the demand is likely to remain strong even if the economic recovery stalls because consumers now view the PC as a relative 'necessity' rather than a 'luxury' and will continue to spend on PCs, even at the expense of other consumer electronic devices, explains Atwal.
Gartner analysts said businesses will find it very difficult to delay PC replacements further. The age of the professional PC installed base is already at an all-time high.
According to Raphael Vasquez, Research Analyst at Gartner, the impact of mini notebooks on the PC market is now waning. Mini-notebooks' share of the mobile PC market peaked in late 2009, when they accounted for nearly 20 percent of total mobile PC shipments. However, their share is expected to fall until it reaches around 10 percent in late 2014.
Vasquez adds, "We still think the mini-notebook has a place in the mobile PC market, but not as a substitute for a standard mobile PC. Indeed, the recent decline in mini-notebooks' share of the mobile PC market reflects a general realization among buyers that mini-notebooks are less-than-perfect substitutes for standard low-end laptops."