According to reports from IHS iSuppli, Worldwide PC shipments are set to decline for the first time in the last 11 years. The research suggests that PC shipments are set to shrink by 1.2% from 352.8 million units in 2011 to 348.7 million in 2012.
The PC market was expected to register some positive growth in 2012 as both AMD and Intel were armed up with aggressive strategies to compete with the Mac’s. Interestingly, the hit for the industry does not come from the Mac but the tablets and smartphones which most of the consumers are happy to lap up instead of upgrading their systems.
Craig Stice, Senior Principal Analyst for Computer Systems with HIS, added that the PC industry is set to witness its first annual decline since the dot com bust in 2001.
The impending release of Windows 8 and the emergence of the thin Ultrabooks are being banked upon as the factors that might help the PC industry to recuperate and post some positive growth in 2013.
For now all eyes are set on the holiday season which will give a clear picture of whether the PC industry is indeed running obsolete, as they vie for sales competing against the latest computing gadgets in tablets and smartphones. The OEM’s have some huge expectations from the Windows 8 platform and they’ll be hoping it delivers.
