PC Market Grew Slowly in Q4 2010 – Media Tablets Blamed
The worldwide PC market continued to slow in the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10) due to a softening consumer market, competing products like Media Tablets, and strong year ago sales. Despite a holiday season marked by a long promotion cycle and highly competitive price points, the global PC market saw shipments rise only a modest 2.7% year on year during 4Q10, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. Fourth quarter growth was slightly less than a projected increase of 5.5%, but shipments of 92.1 million for the quarter still were the largest ever. Total shipments for 2010 reached 346.2 million, an increase of 13.6% that was fueled by a strong recovery in the first half of the year.
“The US market was expected to shrink year over year given the exploding growth experienced in the fourth quarter of 2009. Growth steadily slowed throughout 2010 as weakening demand and competition from the Apple iPad constrained PC shipments. In addition to relatively high market penetration and a ‘good-enough’ computing experience with existing PCs, consumers are being more cautious with their purchases and competing devices have been vying for consumer dollars. This situation is likely to persist in 2011, if not worsen, as a wave of Media Tablets could put a dent in the traditional PC market,” said David Daoud, research director, US Quarterly PC Tracker and Personal Computing.
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