Windows CE use to grow, survey says
C|Net | at | by Mike
A new research report forecasts that devices using Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, a version of Windows for small electronics devices, could begin to outsell Windows PCs by the end of the decade.
The report by eTForecasts of Buffalo Grove, Ill., suggests that Windows CE devices, which include cell phones, PDAs and consumer electronics, have the potential to outsell Windows PCs, by 2010. But Windows CE will have a long way to go between now and then. While manufacturers will sell between 14 million and 17 million Windows CE devices worldwide this year, Windows PC shipments will equal 135 million to 138 million units, worldwide, the firm predicts. Windows CE devices will take until about 2008 to catch up. At that time, both Windows PC and Windows CE device shipments will near the 200 million unit mark, the report says. By 2010, eTForecasts predicts Windows CE device shipments will accelerate to about 300 million to 340 million, while Windows PCs will edge up to between 215 million and 225 million units worldwide.