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"An IDC Quarterly PC Tracker report released yesterdays found that PC shipments overall for 2009 were up about 2.8 percent over 2008 -- not exactly a game changing stat or anything, but we're sure the manufacturers will take what they can get. The upswing was apparently largely due to the strong fourth quarter (and the positive debut of Windows 7), which made up for the abysmal first quarter, second quarter, and semi-abysmal third quarter. In that last quarter of the year, PC sales showed a 15.2 percent growth over 2008 worldwide, while in the US, sales were up 24 percent over the last year, with 20.7 million units shipped. Another trend noted in the report, is, unsurprisingly, the fact that people continue to purchase cheaper PCs -- mostly in the form of laptops and netbooks. All this means that retailers and manufacturers profit margins are thinning out, but hey, we'll leave the worrying to the economists -- where's that circular for the fifteen dollar netbook?"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/14/worldwide-pc-shipments-up-slightly-in-2009-is-an-even-more-de/>