Russia will become the fourth-largest PC market in the world in 2012, according to IDC research director Stefania Lorenz.This means that for the first time more PCs will be sold in Russia than in Germany, Europe’s decades-long epicenter of PC demand.

“Certainly Russia is a driving force in PC growth in Europe, and consumers are driving the growing volume of sales,” Lorenz said in an interview for this story. “Between the first quarter of 2010 and the third quarter of 2011, consumer notebook sales in Russia grew from a staggering 241 percent [growing from a relatively small base of 273K units first quarter 2009 to 932K units first quarter 2010] to 21 percent in third quarter of 2011,” she said. “And if you look at just the third quarter of 2011, of the 2.6 million PC units sold, 2.2 million of those were sold to consumers.”

Improved living standards, computer literacy and Internet access across Russia, combined with a significant drop in prices, are making PCs attractive and accessible to more people, according to Lorenz.

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As we enter the Year of the Dragon, which began Monday with the Chinese New Year, the huge China mobile market is growing at breakneck speed. In 2011, mobile connections increased almost 17 percent and soon will top 1 billion.

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