PC market headed for double-digit growth

IDC has predicted that the worldwide PC market will return to double figure growth this year, and is set to continue until 2014.

In its quarterly market tracker, the global market was predicted to grow by 12.6 per cent. Emerging markets are expected to continue their current growth of 18.5 per cent in 2010, overtaking more mature markets, which will see growth of 7.2 per cent.

The analyst also predicted that average selling prices would stabilise this year, citing reduced growth in the netbook segment.

"PC volume continued to grow in 2009 – fairing much better than in 2001, when a smaller recession produced a decline in PC volume. The positive 2009 results reflect lower prices and the fact that PCs are increasingly a must-have product," said IDC research analyst Jay Chou.

“With lean margins and further market consolidation remaining a harsh reality for the foreseeable future, vendors are increasingly looking to a mix of volume and specialized products to grow revenue, including new combinations of portability, performance, and the intriguing possibilities of touch computing. Overcoming challenges, such as synchronizing data across multiple devices, will be an important step in enabling adoption of more devices and expanding market growth.”