U.S. PC Shipments Shrank in 2011 for First Time in a Decade
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The U.S. personal-computer market declined for the first time in a decade last year, hurt by sluggish consumer spending, supply shortages, and the popularity of smartphones and tablets.
Shipments slipped 4.9 percent to 71.3 million in 2011, the worst performance since 2001, research firm IDC said today. The U.S. market fell 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with a 0.2 percent drop for worldwide shipments. A separate report from Gartner Inc. pegged the fourth-quarter U.S. decline at 5.9 percent, with global shipments decreasing 1.4 percent.