Tablets a significant part of PC market growth

Stephen Withers
Friday, 29 April 2011 09:03

The health of the PC market appears to depend on whether or not you include tablets in the definition. Some analysts do, others don't.

Is a tablet a PC, or is it a completely different beast? Analysts are divided on the issue.

Gartner takes the latter view, recently reporting an estimate of 84,250,918 units sold in the worldwide PC market in the 1Q11, a 1.1% drop from its year-ago figure of 85,180,518. It noted the negative effect of tablet sales on 'mini notebooks' (which presumably includes netbooks).

But Canalys has just published figures showing a 7% growth in shipments over the same period. The difference is that the company groups tablets - including the market-leading iPad family - with PCs.

Is that justified?

Conventional wisdom suggests that tablets are a separate category, even though it is clear that a tablet can be at least a partial substitute for a notebook. If you don't believe that, take a look round at a conference or an airport terminal.

The usual argument is that tablets are used for consumption and notebooks are used for creation. But Canalys' research suggests the patterns of use aren't so different.

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