1 billion PC’s in use, 35 million dumped into landfills

It seems that the world is still computer mad, the number of PC’s being used around the world has now exceeded 1 billion and according to Gartner, this will double by 2014. The most growth in PC sales is coming from developing markets, so not only are these countries having an affect in cell phone sales, but also in personal computer sales as well.

It is thought that at the current 12 percent annual increase rate, this will then reach 2 billion PC’s by 2014. These sales do not take into consideration of laptop sales, and we all know that these sales are increasing every day. The emerging markets will count for 70 percent of the next billion sales, Gartner analysts has said that improved Internet access as well as PC prices coming down has helped with these sales figures.

Fifty-eight percent of PC’s are owned today by the U.S., European, and Japanese users. The sad fact about these PC’s is that 180 million or 16% will be retired, and about 35 million of those will find their way in to a landfill. People seem to have no regard as to the toxic waste of their content.

An analyst at Gartner has said “The challenge of disposing safely of electronics waste will also expand in developing markets in the coming years.”

It seems that now more than ever, we need to find a way of disposing of these computers in a safer way, or maybe repair them and send them to people less fortunate than us.

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