IDC research shows tablet appeal eating into PC momentum

by Steven Mostyn - Jan 13 2011, 13:31

If there were any doubts remaining as to the thundering appeal of tablet computers, a new report from research specialist IDC has outlined that traditional PC systems are feeling the brunt of the tablet platform’s rising popularity.

Specifically, global PC shipments hit 92.1 million during the final quarter of last year, which, while equating to a 2.7 percent rise, is a considerable decline when measured against the 13.6 percent year-on-year growth posted for the whole of 2010.

“Growth steadily slowed throughout 2010 as weakening demand and competition from the Apple iPad constrained PC shipments,” commented IDC research director David Daoud. “Consumers are being more cautious with their purchases and competing devices have been vying for consumer dollars.”

When evaluating the performance of individual hardware makers, Hewlett-Packard remained the world’s leading manufacturer in Q4, despite a drop of 0.9 percent to 19.5 percent.

Dell cemented its second place with quarterly growth of 4.2 percent for just over 12 percent share, while Acer rounded out the top three players with 10.5 percent.

“If you look at Europe and the US, the market wasn’t that good,” added IDC analyst Jay Chou in a BBC report. “Part of that was the tablet.”

According to IDC’s report, the flagging performance attributed to PC shipments is expected to continue as consumers gravitate towards desirable tablet devices, with 2011 likely to end with less than 10 percent growth.

Shipments of tablet devices were not included in IDC’s research.

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