Global PC market to grow 0.9% this year

08-27-2012

Global sales of personal computers (PCs) are expected to inch up 0.9 percent in 2012 from a year earlier, marking the second straight year of growth below 2 percent as a global economic downturn eats into PC demand, a report showed Monday.

The size of the global PC market is expected to reach 367.2 million units this year, compared with 363.9 million units the previous year, when PC shipments posted a 1.7 percent growth, according to the recent report by market research firm IDC. The data includes both desktop and laptop PCs.

The company projected global PC shipments to mark an average 7.1 percent growth from 2013-2016, down from the 8.4 percent compound annual growth rate previously forecast for 2012-2016.

The weak growth forecast for this year was largely attributed to lackluster demand in both emerging and mature markets. PC shipments in emerging markets are expected to grow 2.5 percent this year, tumbling from an 11 percent increase in 2011. Shipments in mature markets are likely to fall 1.2 percent, but recover from an 8.7 percent drop last year, the report showed.

"Consumers have been hit by weak economic conditions, but are also waiting to see what Windows 8 and Ultrabook products will look like while considering spending on other products like media tablets and smartphones," the report said.

While the report pinned hopes on demand in the emerging market, it remained mostly downbeat on growth this year.

"IDC remains optimistic that PC penetration opportunities in emerging markets will form the bulwark of the market and help sustain the double-digit portable PC growth in the long run," said IDC analyst Jay Chou.

"However, a host of all-too-familiar variables will lead to a subdued second half of the year with only consumer notebooks remaining in the growth mode for all of 2012," Chou said.