Desktop PC Ownership Stagnates, Poll Says

Desktop PC ownership was stagnant for the first time in 2005, but an increase in laptop and notebook sales appears to be closing the digital divide, according to a recent study of Internet trends.

Low-cost, high-speed and wireless Internet service seem to be driving laptop and notebook sales worldwide, and that could be closing the digital divide, according to a study released Monday by Ipsos Insight researchers.

In November and December 2005, researchers polled a random group of 6,544 adults urban Brazil, China, India, Mexico and Russia, as well as broader areas in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Global PC ownership increased 8 percentage points in 2005, while desktop PC ownership stagnated for the first time, according to The Face of The Web. Someone owned a notebook or tablet PC in 34 percent of households around the world by the end of 2005, compared to 20 percent in 2003. During that same period, desktop PC ownership remained at 60 percent.

The figures may herald a "changing of the guard" in overall PC ownership and sales, according to Ipsos."The continued popularity of notebook PCs, coupled with growing public access, means that a wireless Internet world is rapidly approaching reality, particularly in North America," Brian Cruikshank, senior vice president and managing director of Ipsos Insight's Technology and Communications practice, said in a prepared statement. "Widespread wireless Internet will revolutionize consumption models for many different industry sectors " decisions like where to eat lunch, where to shop, where to entertain ourselves."

Cruikshank said that applications and devices supporting laptops use are poised for strong growth.

Still, the global market research company reported that the home continues to be the main point of Internet access. Nine out of 10 people who accessed the Internet in a 30-day stretch did so at home, while 50 percent said they accessed it from work.

Though mobile access lagged behind at 9 percent, the phenomenon is growing, along with the expectation of anytime, anywhere access, according to Ipsos. In North America, one-third of adults accessed the Internet wirelessly using a notebook PC within a 30-day period, according to the study. An increase in WLANs in homes, the launch of WWANs by wireless service providers and the growing number of public WiFi hot spots appears to be driving the growth.

In Japan, where people commonly use cell phones for wireless Internet access, wireless Internet use on PCs appears much less prevalent than wired use.Despite gains in mobile technology, the majority of Internet users turn to tethered high-speed access. About 67 percent of Internet users worldwide relied on high-speed connections in 2005, compared with 62 percent in 2004.

Dial-up access declined sharply, while DSL replaced it as the most commonly used access technology around the globe. North America is the only place where Cable access beats DLS in popularity.