PC population reaches one billion

The analyst house has calculated the installed base of PCs grows by around 12 per cent a year. If this continues then the number of systems will reach two billion by 2014.

“Whereas mature markets accounted for just under 60 percent of the first billion installed PCs, we expect emerging markets to account for approximately 70 percent of the next billion installed PCs, “said Luis Anavitarte, research vice president at Gartner.

“Emerging market governments are also increasingly committed to reducing the digital divide by promoting PC use among their citizens through a variety of means, including providing PCs directly to the less affluent.”

Geographically mature markets in the US, Europe and Japan contain just 15 per cent of the world’s population but account for 58 per cent of the installed base of PCs. However, continually falling PC prices and better wireless communication will drive adoption in developing markets.

However, this is coming at a price to the environment. Gartner warns that not enough PCs are being recycled and this is damaging the environment.

“We forecast just over 180 million PCs — approximately 16 percent of the existing installed base — will be replaced this year,” said Meike Escherich, principal research analyst at Gartner.

“We estimate a fifth of these, or some 35 million PCs, will be dumped into landfill with little or no regard for their toxic content. It will become an even more pressing issue, especially in emerging markets, as the number of retired PCs grows with the continuing expansion of the PC installed base.”

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