Laptops Set to Over Take Desktops in Global Market

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This recovered item was posted by mobilenvidia on 2007-03-31

Got this over from DailyTech.

The demand for portability is driving global notebook sales growth

The analyst group IDC predicts that laptops will overtake desktop PCs as the dominant form of computers by 2011. As laptops become faster and more cost efficient, demand for desktop PCs is likely to grow at a declining rate. The report also found that the role of emerging markets is also growing at a nice rate, with 50 percent of desktop PC shipments in 2006 heading to markets that aren't as mature as Japan and the United States.

"While desktop volume will grow by low single-digit rates throughout the forecast with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8 percent from 2006 to 2011, Portable PC shipments will maintain a CAGR of 16.1 percent over the same period," IDC claimed on its web site.

The report claims that more than 82 million notebooks and nearly 140 million desktops were shipped globally in 2006. However, the number of laptops shipped around the world rose a dramatic 26% compared to just a 2% increase for desktops.

The recent release of Microsoft Vista will help temporarily boost the sales numbers of desktop PCs later this year and early next year, but the declining trend will reappear after the short-term boost.

Along with the higher power and lower cost of laptops, more companies are having employees utilize the portability of laptops with wireless Internet capabilities.