Macro headwinds, a shortage of hard drives due to the floods in Thailand in October 2011, the increasing popularity of smartphones, the threat of cannibalization from tablets and lower consumer demand ahead of the Windows 8 OS launch are the key factors that have led to the current slump in PC shipments.

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While the hard disk drive shortage had disrupted the PC market last year, the macro headwinds, cannibalization threat from tablets and the upcoming Windows 8 operating system lunch has further slowed down the PC growth rate this year.

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