Desktop, laptop sales to take off in second half of 2012, IDC says

After a slow start to 2012, sales of desktop and laptop PCs are expected to rebound during the second half of the year, research firm IDC states. Analysts point to the release of the Windows® 8 operating system from Microsoft® as giving a much needed boost to PC sales in the latter stages of 2012.

Other factors will also lead the charge, says IDC, including the continued rise of the Ultrabook™ and notebook-tablet hybrid devices.

"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," says Jay Chou, the senior research analyst for IDC's Worldwide PC Tracker.

By the end of 2012, the firm expects PC sales to have increased 5 percent compared to 2011, when the market grew just 1.8 percent over the previous year.

Gartner voices a similar outlook for the market in 2012. According to their research, Gartner analysts have predicted 4.4 percent growth for PC sales this year.