idc

Global PC microprocessor shipments saw a healthy rise in the second quarter, though the outlook is cautious for the third quarter, IDC said.

Worldwide PC microprocessor unit shipments and revenues in the second calendar quarter of 2010 increased 3.6 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively, compared with the first quarter, according to market researcher IDC, in a report released Thursday.

The average sequential change in unit shipments between calendar-year first quarter and second quarter is an increase of 1.6 percent. For revenues, the average sequential change is a decrease of 2.8 percent, IDC said. So, the percentages … Read more

In a trend kick-started by the Apple iPad, more than 46 million media tablets are expected to ship in 2014, according to the new "Worldwide and U.S. Media Tablet 2010-2014 Forecast" released by IDC on Thursday.

Up substantially from the 7.6 million tablets likely to ship this year, that forecast points to a compound annual growth rate of 57.4 percent. Of course, that includes not just the iPad but other tablets following its lead and competing in the marketplace, including the new Archos 7 Home Tablet, a tablet from the likes of Intel, and a … Read more

The software industry missed out on more than $51 billion in profits last year as a result of software piracy, says a new study released Tuesday by IDC and the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

The seventh Annual BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study found that the rate of software piracy rose by 2 percentage points last year to hit 43 percent. This means that for every $100 of legal software sold last year, another $75 worth of unlicensed software hit the market and reached the hands of consumers.

The increase in piracy over 2008 was due largely to higher … Read more

Smartphones drove a rebound in the overall mobile handset market in the first quarter of 2010, as BlackBerry maker Research In Motion broke into the top five of cell phone makers for the first time.

The worldwide mobile phone market grew 21.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010, compared to a decline of 16.6 percent during the first quarter of 2009 when the global economy was in recession, according to market research firm IDC. Growth was fueled mainly by the economic recovery and sales of smartphones, IDC said. In total, cell phone makers shipped 294.9 million … Read more

Global shipments of microprocessors for the first quarter of the year grew by 39 percent over the same quarter in 2009, paving the way for a market recovery, according to findings from IDC released Thursday.

Though first-quarter shipments actually declined 5.6 percent from the previous quarter, a drop from the fourth to the first quarter is typical of seasonal trends in this industry, said IDC. And the 5.6 percent fall was smaller than usual.

"PC processor shipments typically decline around 7 to 8 percent going from fourth quarter to first quarter," Shane Rau, director of Semiconductors … Read more

When Oracle announced its intention to acquire Sun Microsystems nearly one year ago, one of the prime areas of consternation for developers was what would happen to the Java programming language.

Perhaps putting some of those fears to rest, a new report from IDC (subscription required) suggests that Java can thrive more under Oracle than it did at Sun itself.

In making the strategic commitment to Java in its next-generation Fusion applications, Oracle says on its Web site that the future success of Java is "fundamental to the success of Oracle as a vendor of anything other than databases.&… Read more

Though most of us had to watch our wallets last year, some didn't mind spending $3 million or more for a new supercomputer.

The overall market for high-performance computers (HPCs) and servers fell last year, bringing in sales of $8.6 billion, an 11.6 percent drop from $9.7 billion in 2008, according to the "Worldwide High Performance Technical Server QView" report released Wednesday by IDC. Shipments were down 40 percent from the prior year.

But one segment unfazed by the recession was the supercomputer. Sales of HPCs costing more than $3 million jumped by 65 … Read more

Tech support often gets a bad rap, but information technology pros seem happy with the support they get from enterprise software vendors, according to the results of an IDC survey released Wednesday.

The report, "IDC Customer Satisfaction Study: Top Performers in Enterprise Software Support Services," revealed that IT professionals are quite satisfied with the overall support and individual support options provided by five of the top enterprise software companies.

The survey asked more than 1,000 IT pros to rate how happy they were with the software support provided by different vendors. Looking at the top five vendors, … Read more

Shipments of personal computers are on the rise once again and should see sustained growth over the next few years, according to IDC's latest "Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker" released Monday.

Following a down first half in 2009, global shipments of PCs came alive in the second half, helping to eke out annual growth of 2.9 percent and putting the segment back in the black. Gains were due largely to shipments of portable computers, which rose 18.4 percent in 2009 over 2008. On the consumer end, purchases of notebooks jumped 38.5 percent for the year.

"PC volume continued to grow in 2009--fairing much better than in 2001, when a smaller recession produced a decline in PC volume," said IDC research analyst Jay Chou. "The positive 2009 results reflect lower prices and the fact that PCs are increasingly a must-have product."

The commercial and business PC market remained sluggish throughout last year but showed a slight recovery in the fourth quarter with growth of just under 1 percent. The much-vaunted Netbook finally showed some kinks in its armor as its growth slowed in the final quarter while other notebook categories rose 22 percent, said IDC.

For 2010, PC shipments are expected to grow 12.6 percent. Emerging markets have already done their fair share to stimulate the market and are likely to contribute growth of 18.5 percent this year. More mature markets will add growth of 7.2 percent this year, with double-digit gains following in 2011.

Portable PCs will remain the key driver of growth in both the consumer and business markets, grabbing a 70 percent share of all personal computers shipped by 2012, noted IDC. Desktop PC shipments will continue to fall across the world except in the Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan), helping to keep them in slightly positive territory over the next few years.

PC sales are another story.… Read more