The PC microprocessor market is heading for an "inflection point" in late 2008 or early 2009, when the number of microprocessors shipping for notebooks will exceed those shipping for desktops for the first time.

Analyst firm In-Stat forecasts that the desktop PC market will continue to experience single-digit growth rates for several years.

But the market will see a short hiatus in 2008 and 2009 when the growth will be less than one per cent owing to US macroeconomic pressures and the subsequent global fallout.

"In the long-run, desktop PCs will see growth in developing economies because of the extreme price sensitivities, and in commercial applications through the growth of smaller form factors," said principal In-Stat analyst Jim McGregor.

"Richer content over the internet and changing usage models will also drive overall market growth in the future."

Recent research by In-Stat predicts that the rivalry between Intel and AMD will become "yet more intense and price competitive" as each side battles for supremacy in the evolving PC market.