The fourth quarter of 2010 was the strongest quarter of the year for the PC market, although it failed to meet the expectations of research firms IDC and Gartner.
According to the Quarterly PC Tracker Survey released on Wednesday by IDC, overall worldwide PC shipments grew 2.7 percent year-on-year during the fourth quarter, with Gartner reporting a slightly higher 3.1 percent as part of its quarterly report. Both numbers missed the firms’ expectations. IDC had predicted 5.5-percent growth while Gartner forecast 4.8 percent.
IDC said that one of the main reasons for the “modest” gains was that PCs face competition from tablets such as Apple’s iPad. In addition, it suggested that people were happy with computer hardware they already own. That trend is expected to continue in 2011, the report said. Gartner had similar sentiments, pointing to the iPad and other consumer electronics devices like game consoles treading on the PC’s turf.
For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see 2010 PC growth sees slowdown, tablet cannibalization on CNET News.
Source:-http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/desktop-hardware/2011/01/13/pc-market-sees-modest-growth-at-end-of-2010-40091420/
