ConsumerIT - For Europe's High Volume PC Retailers, Distributors & Builders

Samsung starts mass producing what it claims is the first PCIe-based SSD designed for next-generation notebooks-- the Samsung XP941, a tiny SSD equipped with a Samsung-designed NAND flash controller.

According to the company the XP941 reaches sequential read performance of 1400MB/s, the highest available with a PCIe 2.0 interface. The drives ships in the M.2 form factor (80mmx22mm), weighs 6g and needs just 14% of the space a 2.5-inch SSD normally occupies.

Samsung does not mention customer names, but "major" notebook makers are already receiving the new SSD in 128, 256 and 512GB sizes.

Go Samsung Mass Producing First PCIe SSD for Ultra-Slim Notebook PCs

The second edition of the International Trade Conference (ITC) brings together brokers, traders and distributors from across the globe at the 5-star Corinthia Hotel St. George, Malta.

Organised by IGT/ICB/IPT and also sponsored by Channel Media Europe, the conference hosts key disties and traders for a huge range of consumer products, from iDevice accessories, to PC components and accessories, mobile phones and consumer electronics (TVs, games consoles, etc).

"The purpose of the conference is to help people meet each other face to face, and to find contacts and opportunities," says IPT/IGT/ICB managing director Anthony Elliot-Square.

Microsoft is the next company (after Samsung and Apple) to take over Best Buy floor space-- the company plans to open a "comprehensive" Windows Store-within-a-store inside 600 Best Buy locations spread across the US and Canada.

Ranging from 140 to 204 square metres in size the mini Windows Stores host the gamut of Microsoft products, with Microsoft-trained staff showing customers products such as Windows tablets and PCs, Windows Phones, Office products and Xbox consoles.

The stores' design predictably remind of the Apple take on retail, being replete with benches and wooden flooring. An "innovation table" carries the newest devices, an "ecosystem section" shows how different Microsoft devices work together and the walls house accessories and software.

IDC lowers Q1 2013 global PC monitor shipment estimates from 34.7 million units to 33.8m, a 9.9% Y-o-Y decline caused by the continual drops in desktop PC shipments.

The analyst expects WW monitor shipments to drop further to 113.6m units by 2017.

"The continued decline in PC desktops is bringing about changes in strategy and product focus in the PC monitor market," IDC says. "With Windows 8 we expect to see more touch-based monitors although price points are a little high. Average screen size is also expected to increase to 21.4-inch in 2017 from 20.4-inch in 2012."