Global sales of laptops will overtake those of desktop PCs in 2011, a new report has predicted.

According to analysts IDC, the laptop market will grow by nearly 16 per cent year-on-year until 2011, compared to just 3.8 per cent for desktop PCs.

As a result, laptops will represent more than half of all computers worldwide in 2011.

Figures from the IDC show that 227.7 million computers were shipped around the world last year.

Shipments of desktop PCs increased by just 2 per cent to 138.3 million units in 2006, while laptop shipments jumped by more than 26 per cent to 82.4 million units.

The market for laptop computers is being driven by the growing demand for wireless networks and the increasing need for a mobile workforce, the report found.

Loren Loverde, director of IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, said: "A strong portable offering is becoming more important, and while local players have a larger share of international markets, the shift to portables will favour the largest players.

"Portables are picking up some of the slack from desktops and will benefit from improved security, power management, and new designs supported by Vista.

"While more replacements and Vista adoption may provide a brief respite for desktops in 2008, essentially all desktop growth will occur in emerging regions."

In the US, portable computer shipments will maintain double-digit growth through 2010, IDC noted.

Previous research by market analysts Current Analysis revealed that 2005 was the first year that laptops outsold desktop PCs in the US.

The article Laptops to overtake desktops by 2011 originally appeared on 999 Today