Quad-Core Microprocessor Notebooks To Make Huge Inroads - IHS

Shipments of notebooks with quad-core microprocessors are predicted to hit 179 million units or 59% of all notebooks by 2016, from 48 million or 22% of the market this year, analyst IHS has said.

Notebook PCs are expected to feature ever stronger computational capabilities, delivered by quad-core microprocessors, as the PC market tries to reclaim ground from media tablets and smartphones, which have seen a massive increase in popularity. The currently prevalent dual-core processors will be ousted by the more powerful quad-core ones amid the ever stronger craving for detailed and high-definition media and boosted data processing capability, with faster adoption of quad-core units to begin in 2014, the research firm believes. Multithreading software is able to make quad-core processors stand out even more, enabling them to deliver remarkably faster performance through the simultaneous utilisation of all of their four cores.

IHS expects much of the adoption of notebooks with quad-core microprocessors to be driven by the underpenetrated lower price bands in the segment. According to the analyst, in 2016 68% of value notebook PCs, or those cheaper than $700, will feature quad-core processors, against 13% in 2012. In addition, quad-core uptake among mainstream models, or those with price tags lower than $1,200, will peak in 2015 and settle at 49% in 2016 as six-core units gain market speed, still representing an impressive increase from 28% this year. The higher-end performance notebooks, 41% of which currently have quad-core power, will reach a peak in quad-core penetration at 71% in 2014, after which six-core and eight-core models in this price range will enter the market, IHS says.