IHS iSuppli says the WW PC market shows signs of recovery in Q2 2011-- with global shipments growing by 3.7% Y-o-Y to 85.6M units.

In comparison Q1 2011 shipments total 80.8M.

The analyst attributes the growth to IT departments refreshing their hardware-- allowing the top PC vendors (HP and Dell) to maintain their leadership.

HP shipments for Q2 2011 total 15.4M (with 2.8% Y-o-Y growth) while Dell shipments total 10.5M, growing by 3.9% Y-o-Y.

IDC raises its 2011 WW tablet shipment forecast from 53.5M units to 62.5M, due to strong Q2 2011 performance and improving outlooks for H2 2011.

The increase in projections follows Q2 2011 totals-- 13.6M units, with 373.8% Y-o-Y growth (and 88.9% sequential growth), according to IDC.

Apple remains tablet market king, with iPad 2 shipments reaching 9.3M units and iOS tablets in general taking over 68.3% market share (up from 65.7% in Q1 2011).

Tablet market newcomer RIM has 4.9% of the Q2 2011 Continue reading...

Global 2011 PC unit growth will total 364M units and 3.8% Y-o-Y growth according to the latest Gartner forecast-- a reduction from the previous Gartner 2011 projection of 400M units and 9.3% Y-o-Y growth.

Next year should improve a bit-- the 2012 WW PC market should reach 404M units, with 10.9% Y-o-Y growth (still down from the previous projection of 12.8% growth).

The "notably lower" 2011 PC growth outlook is due to sharply downgraded H2 2011 forecasts for W. Europe, resulting in a weaker 201 Continue reading...

The Financial Times reports tablet numbers will reach 300M by 2015 (nearly reaching 2008 PC sales) according to Credit Suisse.

However the future tablet market will mirror the current netbook market, being "subject to brutal price competition" and split between high-end and budget models.

According to Credit Suisse Apple will lock-up the high end of the market, as customers will refuse to pay iPad prices for non-iOS tablets.

Meanwhile the rest of the competition (Lenovo, Motorola, HP, RIM, Sony, Continue reading...