PC shipments have been under pressure for quite some time and though the industry is trying to innovate in the form of netbooks and
ultrabooks, the stats are not improving much. The industry pundits are expecting e01e to be another tepid year for PCs.
According to Barclays Capital, the industry is likely to see mild to no growth during the coming year. The firm had earlier predicted the segment to grow by 5.1 percent, but later heavily trimmed the forecast down to 0.8 percent. The biggest threat to PC market comes from smartphones and tablets. These gadgets are gaining acceptance in the mass market and are eating away PC's market share.
The PC industry is also grappling with parts shortage problem. Currently, it is facing shortage of hard drives and the problem is likely to continue through the first half of next year. The problem has been exacerbated by recent flooding in Thailand, which has disrupted various manufacturing operations. Barclays Capital has also blamed sluggish economic scenario for lax demand. As global economy is not showing any signs of picking up any time soon, the PC demand is also likely to remain damp in the new year.
Barclays is not the only firm to revise its PC shipment estimates downward. Earlier, IDC had revised its forecast from 5.1 percent to the range of 2.2 percent and 3.4 percent.