14 DAY TRIAL // The International Data Corporation (IDC) took the liberty of analyzing the progress of the personal computer market over the course of 2011.
Its findings are not encouraging but not discouraging either, which is more than other segments of IT can claim.
Long story short, the PC market grew by 1.8% in terms of shipments, which is to say, almost not at all.
Tablets acted as a sort of distraction, especially in developed countries, which means that emerging markets had to pick up the slack.
"Many consumers are holding off making PC purchases at the moment because tablet devices like Apple's iPad are proving to be a powerful distraction," according to Bob O'Donnell, vice president of Clients and Displays at IDC.
"However, end user surveys tell us that few people consider media tablets as replacements for their PCs, so later this year when there is a new Microsoft operating system, available in sleek new PC form factors, we believe consumer interest in PCs will begin to rebound."
The situation is expected to stay lackluster until later this year, 2012, when Microsoft finally launches the Windows 8 operating system.
The first half should still return some shipment growth, but not a very large one.
At least the whole economic pressure is not as pronounced now as last year, but the difference is not very large.
All in all, for the whole of 2012, IDC doesn't expect PC shipments to increase by more than 0.5%, especially not with the second half of the year having to account for most sales.
"2012 and 2013 will bring significant challenges for Microsoft and the PC community," said Jay Chou, senior research analyst, Worldwide PC Tracker.
"The Wintel platform must evolve to accommodate user expectations of ubiquitous computing on a multitude of devices and physical settings. Windows 8 and ultrabooks are a definitive step in the right direction to recapturing the relevance of the PC, but its promise of meshing a tablet experience in a PC body will likely entail a period of trial and error, thus the market will likely see modest growth in the near term."