Annual Global PC Shipments Grow For the First Time in 8 Years

Annual global PC shipments rose for the first time in eight years, according to data released by industry tracking firms late Monday. New submitter mimil writes: International Data Group said late Monday that global PC shipments rose 2.7% year-over-year to 266.7 million units, the first annual gain since 2011, when PC shipments rose 1.7%. "This past year was a wild one in the PC world, which resulted in impressive market growth that ultimately ended seven consecutive years of market contraction," said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "The market will still have its challenges ahead, but this year was a clear sign that PC demand is still there despite the continued insurgence of emerging form factors and the demand for mobile computing," Reith said. Over at Gartner, data showed that PC shipments grew 0.6% for the year to 261.2 million units. Gartner does not include Chromebooks that run on Google operating system or Apple iPads.