IDC: Linux PC sales to hit $10 billion in 2008
Sales of new and used PCs running the Linux operating system will reach $10 billion by 2008, market researcher IDC predicted Wednesday.
About 17 million Linux PCs will be sold that year, bringing the total installed _base_ to 42.6 million, according to the IDC study. And though Linux on PCs still likely will be dwarfed by Windows, IDC forecasts a bigger beachhead: Market share of new and used PCs running Linux is expected to grow from 3 percent in 2003 to 7 percent in 2008.
Much of the industry outside Microsoft is a fan of Linux on desktop and laptop computers. Among companies with Linux PC efforts are Red Hat, Novell, Sun Microsystems, Adobe Systems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Intel.