IDC: notebooks to overtake desktops in 2008

This year should represent the first where notebooks overtake desktops in units sold for the US, says new data from research firm IDC. The company notes that sales of portables in in the US climbed by 21 percent last year to 31.6 million systems while desktops dropped by roughly 4 percent, to 35 million. This rate should continue long enough to place notebooks on top sometime this year, IDC notes. The momentum should also lead to a similar change worldwide by 2009 and may lead to notebooks representing more than two thirds of all business (66 percent) and home (71 percent) computer sales just two years later, in 2011.

Most of the shift is attributed to the plunging costs of notebooks combined with better technology. While prices for the systems are typically higher than for desktops due to miniaturization, many systems can now be found in the US below the $1,000 mark and eliminate a psychological barrier. Both power-efficient, multi-core processors and faster, more widespread Wi-Fi access are also said to be affecting the decision to use a notebook instead.

IDC has not publicized the average selling price of a notebook in 2007, though systems such as ASUS' Eee PC are expected to drive this figure downwards as they become an alternative to larger systems.

Filed under: computers, industry
Other story tags: ASUS, Eee PC, IDC