Computers sold in the world - sources and methods

The source for this data is IDC, the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets.

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker gathers PC market data in 55 countries by vendor, form factor, brand, processor brand and speed, sales channel and user segment. The research includes historical and forecast trend analysis as well as price band and installed base data.

The PC tracker includes Desktop, Notebook, Ultra Portable, and x86 Server market data. It does not include handhelds.

 

Laptop Computers vs. Desktop Computers

The market is moving toward portable PCs even faster than expected.
According to IDC, the laptop share of client PCs is expected to reach 50% by the end of 2008.

 

How many computers are there in the world?

According to Gartner Dataquest's statistics, in April 2002 the billionth personal computer was shipped. The second billion mark was supposedly reached in 2007.

But how many computers are actually in use? According to a report by Forrester Research, there will be over one billion PCs in use worldwide by the end of 2008.

And with PC adoption in emerging markets growing fast, it is estimated that there will be more than two billion PCs in use by 2015, Forrester predicts. Therefore, whereas it took 27 years to reach the one billion mark, it will take only 7 to grow from 1 billion to 2 billion.

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