Monday August 2, 2010 – Maya Jasmin
In conjunction with the bounce back of the PC market, there is a noticeable shift away from traditional desktop and laptop PCs with video optical disc drives to newer less expensive netbook and tablet PCs.
A growing number of global shipments are comprised of netbook and tablet PC units which DTC expects to see phenomenal growth within the next 5 years. DTC estimates that 14% of all PC shipments in 2009 were netbooks and tablet PCs yielding 42.6 million units, and expects that number to steadily climb with 162 million of these units shipping in 2015 accounting for 40% of the global market.
Source: DTC
The estimated surge in sales is in part because the PC market was affected much less severely than anticipated by the recent global economic downturn and is expected to bounce back nicely in 2010 experiencing an impressive recovery. DTC estimates that nearly 304 million PCs shipped globally in 2009, with nearly 350 million and 405 million units expected to ship in 2010 and 2015 respectively.
Video Optical Disc PCs although expected to experience robust shipments throughout the forecast period will not experience the growth that netbook and tablet PCs will. After a notable rebound between 2009 and 2010 in which shipments are expected to reflect 12% growth, shipments will remain flat at best throughout the remainder of the forecast period. DTC estimates that roughly 213 million units shipped in 2009 and expects shipments of nearly 239 million units by year end 2010 and 243 million units in 2015. The forecasted erosion of video optical disc PCs reflects the increasing rate in which consumers view video programming through their internet connections as opposed to playing back a DVD or Blu-ray disc.
