2012 wasn’t a banner year for PC growth. And 2013 isn’t shaping up to be any different.
Based on the breakneck pace at which tablet computers are supplanting the former insatiable worldwide appetite for PCs, growth in the PC market is expected to be minimal for the next 12 months.
New industry forecasts published by Forbes Monday suggest that global PC growth may be limited to just 2% this year. And the popularity of iOS and Android-powered tablets are the reasons behind such muted growth.
Microsoft‘s recent debut of Windows 8 will spur a PC upgrade cycle, Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu writes in a research note this morning, but he cautions that the cycle will be “more muted than many think.”
Some research firms predict as much as 9% PC unit growth in 2013, but Wu isn’t expecting anything that spectacular. Wu does, however, believe that the PC market will become more of “an Asia-Pacific game” with Lenovo, Asustek, and Samsung “likely to show the strongest growth and continue to gain share on players like Hewlett-Packard and Dell.”
