CE spending in W. Europe will remain flat in 2012 according to Strategy Analytics, as the Eurozone crisis continues to crunch on consumers' spending power.

Customers will not stop spending on CE entirely, mind-- purchasing will continue, especially on devices eliminating the need for multiple dedicated devices. Just not enough to drive growth within the region.

On the global front hand analyst predicts WW 2012 CE revenues will grow by 5% and reach $790 billion in value, with mobile devices ( Continue reading...

Are PCs growing or declining? While Gartner reports on a virtually flat Q2 2012 for the WW PC market , Canalys breaks the mould by saying global PC shipments grow by 11.7% Y-o-Y in the quarter.

When it comes to EMEA, Gartner says Q2 2012 growth totals all of 1.9% Y-o-Y, as demand remains "very weak." Unlike Canalys, who says EMEA Y-o-Y growth is up to 17.3%.

It all boils down to what the analysts actually define as a "PC." Canalys adds tablets to its PC market totals. Gartner and virtually all other analysts (such as IDC) do not.

As a result Canalys says "2012 is shaping to be a record year"-- but only for vendors selling tablets. However when it comes to Windows PCs Canalys echoes all other analysts with talk of new lows and disappointing shipments.

Gartner reports Q2 2012 EMEA PC shipments total 25.1 million units-- a 1.9% Y-o-Y increase, with "very weak" demand across both W. and S. Europe as the eurozone crisis continues growing.

As a result, distributors might end up with greater inventory levels while retailers take the (perhaps wise) risk adverse approach. This can hinder future growth before Windows 8 and new Ultrabook models hit the market sometime around H2 2012.

The global situation is not any better-- according to Gartner, the Q2 2012 WW PC market is virtually flat. Shipments reach 87.5m and decline by -0.1%, the 7th consecutive quarter of flat to single-digit WW growth.

"Despite the high expectations for Ultrabooks shipment volume was small and little impact on overall shipment growth,” the analyst remarks.

Customers also prefer spending on non-PC (or post-PC) technologies-- chiefly smartphones and tablets. Continue reading...

According to Business Insider, the PC market looks "flat and mature" as after "decades of sustained growth" WW shipments are grinding down to a halt.

The reasoning behind the gloomy forecast goes as follows-- global 2011 PC shipments are up by only 4% Y-o-Y, the slowest growth rate since 2001. In comparison, 2010 PC shipments grew by 14%.

The reasons for such a slowdown are both various and well known by now. A "choppy" global economy (affecting both consumer and business spending), longer PC Continue reading...