Research firm Gartner has raised its projections for PC sales worldwide as the information technology industry continues on its recovery from the global financial crisis.
The firm has now said PC shipments will increase by 19.7% to 366.1 million units, with revenue from the sales up 12.2% to $245 billion.
Mobile PC s are expected to drive 90% of growth over the next three years, with these to account for nearly 70% of shipments by 2012.
Tablet PCs are also set to fire up the market, with Gartner believing manufacturers could ship up to 10.5 million of traditional versions, used by businesses worldwide. More advanced tablets like the iPad will also have a major impact, the company said.
“Vendors can no longer afford to just think in terms of traditional PC form factors or architectures,” Gartner analyst George Shiffler said in a statement. “With the rise of web-delivered applications, many users no longer need a traditional PC running a resident general-purpose operating system and fast x86 CPU to satisfy their computing needs.”
“Apple’s iPad is just one of many new devices coming to market that will change the entire PC ecosystem and overlap it with the mobile phone industry.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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