Wednesday, October 04, 2006

The number of PCs equipped with Microsoft's Windows Media Center operating environment, and media-focused hardware, such as combined TV tuner and remote control, is expected to reach 5.85 million units this year, International Data Corp. said. The value of the market is estimated at nearly $6 billion, with the U.S. market accounting for more than 46 percent of the total.

Longer term, shipments of media center PCs, most of which will run premium editions of Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista operating system, are expected to reach 27.5 million units worldwide by 2010, including 9.5 million in the United States. The market value is expected to reach $29.4 billion globally and $12.6 billion in the U.S., IDC said.