Worldwide PC shipment growth for 2011 ended on a slightly positive note, growing to 1.8% according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. While the first half of 2012 is expected to see only modest shipment growth, the launch of Windows 8 and the hype generated by ultrabooks and other notebooks should drive second half sales in a much stronger way.

For much of 2011, vendors struggled to maintain consumer interest in a market overwhelmed by a weak economic recovery and disrupted by emerging computing devices. The lack of interest was seen during a lack-luster Christmas season. Mature markets such as the United States and Western Europe, in particular, had a rough year, with PC shipments in 2011 shrinking by 9% compared to 2010.

Looking ahead, the PC market will still enjoy substantial growth, particularly in emerging markets. IDC predict that PC growth will be modest at just 5.0% for 2012, with most of that growth occurring in the latter half of the year. “Many consumers are holding off making PC purchases at the moment because tablet devices like Apple’s iPad are proving to be a powerful distraction,” according to Bob O’Donnell, vice president of Clients and Displays at IDC. “However, user surveys tell us that few people consider media tablets as replacements for their PCs, so later this year when there is a new Microsoft operating system, available in sleek new PC form factors, we believe consumer interest in PCs will begin to rebound.”

Although emerging markets have continued to show good uptake, IDC has slightly reduced its outlook in some regions. The 2012 forecast for China has been lowered to 9%, the first time single-digit growth has been for calculated for a year. Part of the adjustment amongst emerging markets comes from the shortage of disk drives, which greatly impacts white box PC manufacturers who play a dominant role in these markets. Secondly, the prospect of slowing exports will also likely affect PC spending as both consumers and SMBs (small and medium businesses) in developing countries scale back.

“2012 and 2013 will bring significant challenges for Microsoft and the PC community,” says Jay Chou, senior research analyst, Worldwide PC Tracker. “The Wintel platform must evolve to accommodate user expectations of ubiquitous computing on a multitude of devices and physical settings. Windows 8 and ultrabooks are a definitive step in the right direction to recapturing the relevance of the PC, but its promise of meshing a tablet experience in a PC body will likely entail a period of trial and error, thus the market will likely see modest growth in the near term.”

According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker, worldwide media tablet shipments into sales channels rose by 56.1% on a sequential basis in the fourth calendar quarter of 2011 to 28.2 million units worldwide. That represents an increase of 155% from the fourth quarter of 2010. The market experienced stronger growth than expected across many regions and at many price points, leading to a full-year 2011 total of 68.7 million units. Based upon the markets’ strong 2011 finish, and the clear demand expected in 2012, IDC has increased its 2012 forecast to 106.1 million units, up from its previous forecast of 87.7 million units.

Apple iPad share slips from 61.5% to 54.7%

Despite an impressive debut by Amazon, which shipped 4.7 million Kindle Fires into the market, Apple continued to see strong growth in the quarter, shipping 15.4 million units in 4Q11, up from 11.1 million units in 3Q11. That represents a 54.7% worldwide market share (down from 61.5% in 3Q11).

Amazon’s shipment total put the company in second place with 16.8% of the worldwide market. Third-place Samsung grew its share from 5.5% in 3Q11 to 5.8% in 4Q11. Despite shipping more units, including its new Nook Tablet, Barnes & Noble saw its worldwide market share slip to 3.5% (down from 4.5%). Pandigital rounded out the top five, grabbing 2.5% of the market, down from 2.9% the previous quarter.

Android grows from 32.3% to 44.6% share

As predicted, Android made some strong gains in 4Q11, thanks to the Amazon Kindle Fire’s success (the Fire runs a custom version of Google’s Android OS). Android grew its market share from 32.3% in 3Q11 to 44.6% in 4Q11. As a result, iOS slipped from 61.6% market share to 54.7%; Blackberry slipped from 1.1% to 0.7%. WebOS, which owned 5% of the worldwide market in 3Q11, dropped to zero in 4Q11. Looking ahead, IDC expects Android to continue to grow its share of the market at the expense of iOS.

Despite the strong growth of media tablet shipments, ePaper-based eReaders also experienced stronger-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter. That growth occurred thanks to sharp price cuts in established markets such as the U.S. and Canada, as well as increasing shipments in regions outside of North America. In 4Q11 the worldwide total increased to 10.7 million units, up from 6.5 million units in 3Q11. That represents a quarter-over-quarter improvement of 64.6% and a year-over-year improvement of 64.3%. IDC expects growth to continue in 2012 as major players such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo look to expand into new international markets.

Learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com