PC industry to witness record fall

The PC industry will witness the sharpest unit decline in history this year research firm Gartner revealed.

This year will see PC shipments totalling 257 million units, which reflects a 11.8% drop when compared to 2008 figures. Previously, the industry experienced its worst decline in 2001 when unit shipments contracted 3.2%.

Both emerging and mature markets are expected to suffer ‘unprecedented market slowdowns’.

“The PC industry is facing extraordinary conditions as the global economy continues to weaken, users stretch PC lifetimes and PC suppliers grow increasingly cautious,” said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner.

Desktops will suffer the most to reach a total of 101.4 million units, which is a 31.9% drop from 2008.

Mini-notebooks holds some promise as it’s forecasted to total 21 million units in 2009, a marked increase from 11.7 million units in 2008.

Still, mini-notebooks remain too few to prevent the market’s steep decline as they are expected to represent just 8% of PC shipments this year.