Tablets set to overtake PCs this year: IDC

Global personal computer shipments face a deeper-than-expected 7.8% slump this year as tablets overtake laptops for the first time, a report by market research company IDC has found.

Global personal computer shipments face a deeper-than-expected 7.8% slump this year as tablets overtake laptops for the first time, a report by market research company IDC has found.

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The firm previously had forecast a 1.3% decline in PC shipments for 2013 but said in a report on Tuesday that consumers content with tablets are continuing to hold off replacing ageing laptops and desktop computers. By 2015, tablets will outship not just laptops, but all PCs, according to IDC.

Driven by growth in inexpensive devices running Google’s Android platform, worldwide tablet shipments will expand 58.7% this year, while average selling prices for the devices will fall 10.8% to $381, IDC said.

PC shipments are expected to fall an additional 1.2% next year.