08 March, 2010

Sales of personal computers (PCs) around the world are expected to grow nearly 20% higher this year than 2009, with encouraging sales of new laptops, the research group Gartner said on Thursday.

Gartner said it expected total sales of 366.1 million PC units in 2010, up 19.7% from 305.8 million units shipped in 2009.

It said spending on PCs worldwide is estimated to reach U.S. $ 245 billion this year, up 12.2% from 2009.

In December, Gartner estimates that 13.3% growth in PC shipments in 2010 and 1.9% growth in spending.

Gartner says PC market growth in 2010 will be driven by sales of portable computers such as notebooks and netbooks.

"Industrial PC will be very much driven by mobile PCs, thanks to strong growth in both developed markets and in a mature market," Gartner research director George Shiffler said in a statement. "The growth of table-based PC shipments will be minimal and limited to new markets."

"We hope the PC mobile PC growth of 90% over three years," Shiffler said. "In the year 2009, mobile PCs contributed 55% of all PC shipments; in 2012, we estimate that mobile PCs contributed nearly 70% of the shipment."

Gartner principal analyst Ranjit Atwal said Apple iPad tablet computers coming "is just one of many new devices coming to market that will change the entire ecosystem of PCs and overlapping with the mobile phone industry."

Gartner said it estimates that 10.5 million traditional tablet devices and tablets next generation to be sent worldwide in 2010.

Gartner also released a forecast Thursday for the sale of touchscreen mobile devices, predicts sales will grow 97% this year from last year and will represent 27.4% of all mobile phone sales in 2010.

Gartner said it expected sales of the touchscreen mobile device more than 362.7 million units in 2010, up 96.8% from a year ago.

In 2013, touch-screen phone will contribute 58% of all mobile device sales worldwide and more than 80% in developed markets such as North America and Western Europe, Gartner said.

"Touchscreens are no longer preserve the high-end and is now included in many midrange phones as more companies have pushed consumer market for affordable touchscreen mobile phone," said Gartner principal analyst, Roberta Cozza.

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