CNet News ran a blurb from Gartner. The infobit suggests that the number of personal computers in use around the world has exceeded 1 billion. This report counted installed PCs and not machines sold.
PC growth
The firm also predicts that this number will double by 2014. They say most of this growth will occur in developing markets. Gartner analysts suggest that the emerging markets will account for 70 percent of the next billion PCs to come online. They named dropping prices and improved Internet access as factors driving that trend.
eWaste concerns
According to Gartner, in 2008, some 180 million computers, or 16 percent of those now in use globally, will be retired. “We estimate a fifth of these, or some 35 million PCs, will be dumped into landfill with little or no regard for their toxic content,” Meike Escherich, principal research analyst at Gartner, said in a statement. The challenge of disposing safely of electronics waste will also expand in developing markets in the coming years, she added.
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.