Canalys reports the global PC industry shows growth of 19% in Q4 2010 over Q4 20009-- since if one counts tablets as PCs.
W. Europe's PC market shows 10.7% growth-- while C. and E. Europe show 38.4% growth.
In fact the analyst says the majority of Q4 market growth is thanks to rising tablet demand. The analyst says that while tablets are not attractive to first-time or low-income buyers, they are increasingly popular as additional computing devices.
Canalys urges vendors to recognie tablets as "an integral new component of the overall PC landscape"-- incorporating tablet device (as in touchscreen devices with screens over 7" in size) shipments in its market reports (unlike a number of other analysts).
Apple gets to the W.W. market's 3rd place in Canalys' report, with 10.8% market share and 241% growth over Q4 2009 (thanks to impressive iPad and Mac sales). Apple benefits from tablets, just as Acer, Samsung and Asus did before with netbooks.
Meanwhile HP (17.7% market share) and Acer (12.8%) retain the W.W. market's top 2 positions.
As for Q1 2011, Canalys predicts substantial consumer inventory build-up-- and significant retail discounting. This is due to Intel's upcoming refresh, as well as rising VAT levels across 5 countries (Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Switzerland and the UK).
