This IDC study provides our assessment of the ongoing seismic change in personal computing as the growing number of form factors and mobile OS ecosystems broadens the reach of computing for consumers who demand a richer mobile experience.

"Despite the slow start, the introduction of the new category of Ultrabooks comes at an important time for the PC industry, which is at a crossroad in terms of direction as established vendors struggle to reinvent their business models and remain relevant in personal computing," says Mario Morales, Program Vice President at IDC.

"The growth of the industry is very clear; the key challenge will not be what form factor to support or what app to enable but how will the computing industry come together to truly define the market's transformation around a transparent computing experience. In the end, consumers will demand the same level of simplicity and convenience on any device and for any service," says Morales.