Gartner lowered its predictions for growth in the PC industry for 2011 to 3.8 percent on Thursday. The cut was a steep drop from a predicted 9.3 percent and blamed partly on tough economies in Europe and the US, leading customers to hold back. Research lead Ranjit Atwal saw the larger issue as a transition away from conventional PCs, however, and gave particular concern for Microsoft as its core business was losing luster across much of the public.
