iPad sales led to a fall in PCs shipments

The Apple iPad has hit the sales of personal computers hard and this has led to a fall in the shipments of PCs globally. Reports by IDC and Gartner claimed that, the overall delivery of the personal computers have seen a decline from previous years.

“PC market would come under pressure as consumers turned to tablets, game consoles, smartphones and other devices rather than replace home and portable computers,” said the researchers.

It may be noted that, if the iPads were considered PCs then the sales and shipments have seen a record growth, with more than 19 per cent increase in sales of the tablets, from 2009 to 2010.

“Media tablets such as the iPad, as well as other consumer electronic devices such as game consoles, all competed against PCs,” said Mikako Kitagawa, Gartner analyst.

The IDC researchers have also assumed that, more than 17 million iPads were shipped in 2010 and out of these the most sold were the Apple iPads.

“With an array of competitors entering the market and a second-generation iPad in the works, the number was expected to reach 44m in 2011, on top of the 385m PCs,” said IDC analyst Jay Chou.

Growth in PC sales less than expected
While the PC deliveries have fallen due to an upsurge in iPad sales, IDC said that a 2.7 percent increase was noted in PC shipments globally in 2010, in the fourth quarter. The researchers added that this was lesser than the estimated 5.5 per cent profit.

“2011 projections for PCs may be reduced in part because of the popularity in tablets. The uncertain US employment outlook and inflation in China are also putting pressure on the PC makers,” said Chou.

After the success of iPads, technology majors like Samsung, Motorola, and Research in Motion are also launching their tablets soon.