Global 2011 PC unit growth will total 364M units and 3.8% Y-o-Y growth according to the latest Gartner forecast-- a reduction from the previous Gartner 2011 projection of 400M units and 9.3% Y-o-Y growth.
Next year should improve a bit-- the 2012 WW PC market should reach 404M units, with 10.9% Y-o-Y growth (still down from the previous projection of 12.8% growth).
The "notably lower" 2011 PC growth outlook is due to sharply downgraded H2 2011 forecasts for W. Europe, resulting in a weaker 2011 and a slower start to 2012.
W. Europe currently struggles through both excess PC inventory and economic upheaval.
However Gartner hopes for improvement in H2 2012, as economies stabilise and new mobile PCs enter the market.
The long term view remains worrying-- younger customers don't buy PCs as their first (or even their main) device, while older customers repair (rather than replace) their PCs.
Tablets also "have dramatically changed the dynamic of the PC market", Gartner says. The analyst does not include tablets in its PC market forecasts.
