PC market rebounds with strong demand for portables

Worldwide PC shipments are projected to rise by 16.7% in the fourth Q of 2007, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

Following a slow seconnd half of 2006, with growth reaching a low of 7.9% in the fourth quarter, growth has accelerated steadily in 2007, reaching 16% in Q3. As a result, annual growth is expected to reach 14.6% in 2007, up from 10.1% in 2006.

Portable PC adoption remains a key driver. In Q3, Worldwide Portable PC shipment growth of 37% was the fastest in more than a decade, edging growth of more than 35% in several Qs in 2003 and 2005. The rapid move to Portables has taken a toll on Desktops. With the support of emerging regions, global Desktop volumes continue to increase in low single-digits. However, the growth differential between Desktops and Portables has never been larger. In the Q3, Portable growth was more than 33 percentage points faster than Desktop growth – a differential that has not been over 30% since 1996.

The rapid transition has boosted Portable share of Client PCs to nearly 45% in the Q3, and will likely reach 50% by the end of 2008.

International markets have also driven volume. Following years of steady growth, the PC market outside the U.S. and Japan reached 68% of global shipments in the Q3. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) and Rest of World (including Latin America, Canada, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) are approaching 50% share and growing by more than 20% in 2007. Western Europe, representing more than 22% of global volume, also continues to grow at a rapid pace.

(source: IDC CEMA)