disk drives following heavy flooding near manufacturing plants in Thailand

Worldwide shipments of personal computers will pick up in the second half of the year with the debut of a new Microsoft Windows operating system and the broader availability of notebooks that are thin like tablet computers, according to the research group Research of information technology companies. Researchof information technology companies expects growth in personalcomputers shipments this year to be a modest 5 per cent. In healthier times, personal computers shipments had double-digit percentage growth. Research of information technology companies forecast Tuesday is in line with other recent estimates. The research group said personal computers shipments worldwide grew less than 2 per cent last year. The growth came from emerging markets, while the industry saw a 9 per cent drop in mature markets such as the US and Western Europe. A weak economy and consumer interest in tablets were to blame. Research of information technology companies vice president Bob O'Donnell said consumers continue to hold off buying PCs as Apple Inc's iPad and other tablet computers "are proving to be a powerful distraction." It'll take new products - Microsoft Corp's Windows 8 and so-called ultrabooks from personal computers makers - to change that. Research of information technology companies also expects 2013 to be challenging for Microsoft and traditional personalcomputers makers, which include Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co, Sony Corp and Lenovo Group Ltd. "Windows 8 and ultrabooks are a definitive step in the right direction to recapturing the relevance of the personalcomputers," Mr.JayChou, a senior research analyst at Research of information technology companies, said in a statement. "But its promise of meshing a tablet experience in a personalcomputers body will likely entail a period of trial and error. Thus the market will likely see modest growth in the near term." Research of information technology companies is also lowering its forecast in some emerging markets, in part because of shortages of disk drives following heavy flooding near manufacturing plants in Thailand last year. Another research group, Gartner, also has forecast a relatively weak 2012.

Source: The Times of India