Sales of personal computers are expected to decline by 11.9% to 257 million units in 2009, the steepest drop in the industry's history, according to market research firm Gartner.
'The PC industry is facing extraordinary conditions as the global economy continues to weaken, users stretch PC lifetimes and PC suppliers grow increasingly cautious,' Gartner said.
The decline in PC sales in 2009 would be the worst since 2001, when unit shipments contracted 3.2%, it added.
Both emerging and mature markets were also set to suffer unprecedented market slowdowns in 2009 with PC sales declining by 10.4% over last year in emerging markets and by 13% in mature markets.
Gartner said the previous lowest growth in emerging markets was 11.1% in 2002, while mature markets recorded their lowest growth in 2001, -7.9%.
Worldwide mobile PC shipments were expected to reach 155.6 million units in 2009, a 9% increase from 2008, the research firm added. It said desktop PC shipments were forecast to total 101.4 million units, a 31.9% decline from 2008.
Much of the growth in mobile PC sales will be fueled by shipments of mini-notebooks, Gartner said, although they were forecast to represent just 8% of PC shipments in 2009.
Worldwide mini-notebook shipments were expected to total 21 million units in 2009, up from 11.7 million units in 2008. Excluding mini-notebooks, mobile PC sales will grow by just 2.7% in 2009, Gartner said.
