IHS iSuppli's latest results suggest the WW PC market is feeling the effect of consumer interest in tablets-- particularly from the likes of the iPad.
WW PC shipments are down by -0.3% Y-o-Y in Q1 2011, reaching the total of 81.3m units (from Q1 2010's 81.6m units). The PC vendor top 3-- HP, Dell and Acer-- all see Y-o-Y decreases in their results, particularly Acer, whose shipments decrease by -20.4% in Q1.
Acer is an important vendor example since it sells a high proportion of netbook-type PCs-- the kind facing the most direct competition from tablets. The company recently announced changes in its commercial direction in reaction to such recent losses.
IHS describes the PC industry's current environment as "difficult", with consumer attention on the tablet segment contributing to weakness in PC demand.
Despite all this the analyst still predicts brighter days for the PC market-- its latest forecast saying the PC market will show 8% growth in 2011, reaching 373m units (up from 2010's 345m).