Worldwide PC sales set to grow by 20% in '10: research

Gartner says it expects total PC sales of 366.1 million units in 2010, a 19.7 per cent increase from the 305.8 million units shipped in 2009.

It says worldwide PC spending is forecast to reach $US245 billion ($A270 billion) this year, up 12.2 per cent from 2009.

In December, Gartner forecast 13.3 per cent growth in PC shipments in 2010 and 1.9 per cent growth in spending.

Gartner says PC market growth in 2010 will be driven by sales of portable computers such as notebooks and netbooks.

"The PC industry will be overwhelmingly driven by mobile PCs, thanks to strong home growth in both emerging and mature markets," Gartner research director George Shiffler said in a statement on Friday. "Desk-based PC shipment growth will be minimal and limited to emerging markets."

"We expect mobile PCs to drive 90 per cent of PC growth over the next three years," Shiffler said. "In 2009, mobile PCs accounted for 55 per cent of all PC shipments; by 2012, we expect mobile PCs to account for nearly 70 per cent of shipments."

Gartner principal analyst Ranjit Atwal said the upcoming Apple iPad tablet computer "is just one of many new devices coming to market that will change the entire PC ecosystem and overlap it with the mobile phone industry".

Gartner said it expected 10.5 million traditional tablets and next-generation tablet devices to be shipped worldwide in 2010.

Gartner also released a forecast on Thursday for sales of touchscreen mobile devices, predicting sales will grow 97 per cent this year over last year and will represent 27.4 per cent of all mobile phone sales in 2010.

Gartner said it expected sales of touchscreen mobile devices of more than 362.7 million units in 2010, up 96.8 per cent from last year.

By 2013, touchscreen mobile devices will account for 58 per cent of all mobile device sales worldwide and more than 80 per cent in developed markets such as North America and Western Europe, Gartner said.

"Touchscreens are no longer the preserve of high-end devices and are now being included in many midrange phones as more companies have been driving the consumer market for affordable touchscreen phones," Gartner principal research analyst Roberta Cozza said.