PC shipments to decline for first time since dot-com bust

Lenovo hopes products like its new convertible PCs will help buoy computer sales.

(Credit: Dan Ackerman/CNET ) In case we needed any more evidence about a grim PC market, IHS iSuppli has clinched it.

Worldwide computer shipments are set to decline this year for the first time since 2001, the tech research firm says today. That means the market will total about 348.7 million units in 2012, down 1.2% from last year.

IHS noted the year started out promising, with Intel and PC makers touting thin-and-light ultrabooks at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas. But quarterly sales have proved to be disappointing, and the usual boost from the key back-to-school season "appears to be a bust."

"There was great hope through the first half that 2012 would prove to be a rebound year for the PC market," said Craig Stice, senior principal analyst for computer systems at IHS. "Optimism has vanished and turned to doubt, and the industry is now training its sights on 2013 to deliver the hoped-for rebound."

PC sales are expected to decline this year for the first time since the dot-com bust in 2001, according to IHS iSuppli.

(Credit: IHS iSuppli ) PC market growth has slowed of late as consumers, cautious about the global economy, hold off on computer purchase in favor of mobile devices. Intel, which has been driving... [Read more]