Tablets eat in to PC sales

In the week that Apple unveiled its second-generation iPad, market researchers are predicting that tablets will cannibalising PC sales.

Gartner, the industry analyst firm, has lowered its forecasts for PC sales for both 2012 and for next year. The firm believes that the iPad, and other "media tablets", are taking sales from laptops and netbooks.

Consumer notebooks and netbooks have been the driving force of the PC industry for the last five years, according to Gartner; sales have grown 40 per cent year on year. But to keep up that growth rate, consumers would have to buy a second, or even third, laptop.

Gartner now believes that many of those consumers will opt for a tablet, instead of another laptop. Computer users are also likely to keep their laptops for longer, as they use a tablet as their main mobile device instead. "Overall, we now expect home mobile PCs to average less than 10 per cent annual growth in mature markets from 2011 through 2015," said Ranjit Atwal, a research director at Gartner.

One reason consumers are opting for tablets is that the iPad, and other devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab, are bringing more choice to the market. But until recently, laptops were also "fashion accessories", Gartner says. Their place in consumers' affections has now largely been replaced by smartphones and tablets.

In the professional and business markets, Gartner still expects to see double-digit growth for PC sales. But even for business users, companies are starting to look at tablets and may well delay PC purchases as they see how the tablet market develops.

An earlier survey suggested that even Apple's PC sales were losing out to tablets.