PC Use Hits 1 Billion Plus

According to Gartner, the global use of PCs reached the 1 billion-plus mark and is projected to hit the 2 billion mark by 2014. Gartner’s research shows that PC use is increasing at 12 percent annually.

According to Channel Web, “Gartner estimates that growth is primarily in mature markets, such as the U.S., Western Europe and Japan, which make up 58 percent of the world’s installed PCs.” This statistic means that primarily the wealthiest nations are the biggest users of PCs, which is no surprise to most. What does surprise analysts is that these nations only account for 15% of the world’s population which means there are still a majority of humans who do not have the opportunity to use a PC.

According to this research, “PC churn” is one of the driving factors in hitting the 1 billion plus mark. PC users are upgrading to newer PC models while the older PCs migrate to 2nd owners.

Meike Escherich, principal researcher at Gartner, stated, “we forecast just over 180 million PCs—approximately 16 percent of the existing installed base—will be replaced this year.” Sadly, a fifth of these PCs are expected to be dumped in garbage landfills all across the world.