Global sales of personal computers fell 2.4% in the second quarter and declined by 19.1% in value, market research firm IDC reported on Sept. 16.
Sales of desktop computers fell 17% in the second quarter from a year ago as businesses limited spending and the market continued to shift to portable computers, IDC said in its Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker report.
It said the only area registering growth in the quarter was consumer portable computers with shipments increasing 44% from a year ago.
Traditional notebooks recorded 13% growth although shipment value was down 6%.
The mini-notebook, or netbook, share of consumer portables rose to 26% from just 5% a year ago, IDC said.
The shift is taking a toll on shipment value, however, as netbooks average just over $400 each compared to more than $900 for traditional laptops, IDC said.
The market research firm said it expected desktop volume to be flat in 2010 and portable computer growth of 16.5% during the year to drive overall volume gains. IDC said it expects portable computer shipments to increase at an average growth rate of over 17% through 2013.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
