14 DAY TRIAL // It appears that the PC market is set to evolve positively over the course of 2011, with makers of business-oriented systems expecting to benefit much from the higher number of shipments.
The thing about 2011 is that it is a year of economic recovery, in addition to being a time when new products and technologies are being released one after another.
After the influx of ARM-based Android tablets during MWC, IT players are preparing for CeBIT and revealing such things as Light Peak and a means to let flash drives work at 300 MB/s.
Granted, there were also cases of less than impressive results, like how the Motorola XOOM tablet was found, more or less lacking in reviews.
Now, it is reported that, with the overall PC market set to grow during 2011, top players in this segment hope to grow along with it.
In fact, HP, Dell and Lenovo, being the main suppliers of systems for the business sector, expect the best results in terms of shipments.
Back in the fourth quarter of 2010, business PCs, including notebooks, reached 41.28 million shipments, a fair jump over the 38.5 million of Q4, 2009.
HP was, of course, in the lead, with 8.59 million, 8.4% more on quarter and 5.6% higher on -year, while Dell followed with 7.08 million (12.9% up on-quarter but 1.8% less on-year). Lenovo rose 20.2% and 7.1%, respectively, to 6.1 million units.
Meanwhile, Acer's business PC share declined to 6.8% (it was 8.1% in Q3, 2010), as the outfit put more effort into its European PC market, especially on netbooks.
That said, Acer is set to boost its performance in China, a segment set to account for 13-15% of its 2011 revenues, compared to 10% in 2010.
Either way, the company is a bit behind the other 3 on the business PC segment and may not reap the benefits of the growing market.
All in all, after the 7.2% on-year boost of the overall business computer market in 2010, 2011 should drive sales even further upwards.