PC market will grow 2 per cent to 372.3 million units in 2012-Internet via smartphones and tablets.

Bear case
Intel also faces the prospect of losing customers as more consumers access the Internet via smartphones and tablets. Microsoft and Google are introducing tablets in a market already crowded with devices challenging Apple's iPad.

Market researcher Gartner predicts the PC market will grow 2 per cent to 372.3 million units in 2012. Next year the market will expand 12 per cent to 415.5 million units. - Bloomberg News
"The problem is PC makers don't know what to build,- said Berenbaum. "The bear case is that this indicates that people are not going to buy PCs, they're buying tablets.-

Microsoft, with its entry in the tablet market, is for the first time creating versions of its Windows operating system that will work on chips using technology from companies other than Intel.
That is causing PC makers to hold off on processor orders, unsure of which type of computer will catch on with consumers, according to Berenbaum.

Intel is also planning to spend less on new plants and equipment this year.

Capital expenditures will be less than the low end of its prior 2012 forecast range of $12.1 billion to $12.9 billion.

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