PC shipments are set to decline for the first time since 2001, iSuppli said Tuesday. The call reverses an earlier one which had said the industry would be able to eke out a small gain for the year. In any case, it appears that the severe recession is at fault for the pullback.

A four percent decline is expected in PC shipments worldwide year over year to 287.4 million units. However, the drop would only be temporary as shipments are expected to grow 4.7 percent in 2010.

Desktops appear to be the industry’s weakest spot. Year over year, shipments plummeted 23 percent in the first quarter. iSuppli expects a similar number for the second quarter when figures are compiled in the next few weeks.

Notebooks are helping to buoy shipments. Shipments there will climb nearly 12 percent to 155.9 million units this year. That would be enough to give portables a majority market share for the first time.

This isn’t all that surprising considering notebooks have been growing in popularity rather quickly for several years now. It seems that consumers are increasingly choosing mobility over power — as a general rule, desktops are more powerful PCs (for cheaper) than the notebook.

Either way, iSuppli’s findings shouldn’t surprise any of us. In a economy like this, we’re more worried about the necessities in life. While many of us are addicted to the Internet these days, a shiny new computer is not that necessary to surf the web with.

 
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