Laptops to overtake desktops in 2009

Analyst firm In-Stat forecasts that the desktop PC market will continue to experience single-digit growth rates for several years.

But the market will see a short hiatus in 2008 and 2009 when the growth will be less than one per cent owing to US macroeconomic pressures and the subsequent global fallout.

"In the long-run, desktop PCs will see growth in developing economies because of the extreme price sensitivities, and in commercial applications through the growth of smaller form factors," said principal In-Stat analyst Jim McGregor.

"Richer content over the internet and changing usage models will also drive overall market growth in the future."

Recent research by In-Stat predicts that the rivalry between Intel and AMD will become "yet more intense and price competitive" as each side battles for supremacy in the evolving PC market.

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