14 DAY TRIAL // It is a well-known fact by now that the worldwide economy is currently on a downward spiral, which is naturally affecting major manufacturers from almost every market segment. However, a recent report by the IDC seems to indicate that the sluggish economy won't have the same effects on the current portable systems market as well. Apparently, laptop sales will drive the PC market into an area of solid growth for the next several years.
There's an increasing demand for portable computer systems, which is expected to help the PC market enjoy sustainable growth. A number of market research firms believe that global PC shipments will to grow this year, and will continue to do so in the upcoming years, until 2011. This point reached, it is said that the growth rate might slow down a bit, slipping to around 9%, with analysts expecting annual shipments to surpass 482 million.
“We continue to see a rapid transition to portable PCs around the world, even as economic pressures rise," said Loren Loverde, director of IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, in a statement. "The trend reflects the increasing importance of computing, not just in the home or office, but as an integrated part of our lives. Falling prices, more design choice and competition for PC makers to capture this market continue to drive a rapid transition.” Loverde added.
According to the IDC, the shipments of portable computer systems are expected to grow to 35.3 million, from 30 million last year. In the desktop and x86 servers PC segments, estimates have it that the market will drop to 35.5 million this year, compared with approximately 37 million shipments recorded last year. These numbers reflect the US PC market alone, while, for the worldwide market, the numbers are significantly higher. IDC counted 161.1 million shipments of desktops and x86 servers in 2007, on a worldwide scale. According to the report just published, these figures will increase to 163.2 million this year, while laptop shipments will grow from 108 million last year to 148.2 million in 2008.
Furthermore, it is believed that netbooks will play a major part on the worldwide PC market, given that there is an impressively growing interest for such portable devices.