Notebook Shipments Poised to Overtake Desktops

Gartner has found that the shift has already happened—at least in the North America market. In the third quarter of 2007, notebook shipments accounted for 52 percent of the market, while desktop shipments totaled 48 percent.

By contrast, IDC offers a more conservative outlook. The Framingham, Mass., research firm found that U.S. notebook shipments will stay at about 49 percent in both the third and fourth quarters of 2007. By the end of 2008, those numbers should change for good with notebooks accounting for about 54.6 percent of U.S. PC shipments and desktops for about 45.4 percent.

While it's no surprise that the North American market has made this crossover, both IDC and Gartner found that emerging markets such as China, Eastern Europe and India are quickly closing the gap with mature markets. By late 2009, the worldwide market will catch up with the U.S. market with notebooks outshipping desktops. The Gartner survey places the laptop crossover closer to 2010.

Read the entire article here.