But the laptop isn't the big seller it once was, a market change that was reflected in fourth-quarter PC sales.

In January, analyst firm IDC reported that worldwide PC shipments were slower than expected during the fourth quarter of 2010 because of and a slowdown in consumer spending.

Similarly, Gartner analysts also reported that fourth quarter PC sales were down and laid a lot of the blame at the feet of a burgeoning tablet business.

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at or subscribe to . Her e-mail address is .

in Computerworld's Macintosh Topic Center.