“The U.S. market for Internet appliances is entering a period of
rapid takeoff, and the new devices are expected to surpass consumer
PC shipments in 2002…”
“As an even broader group of companies seeks to address the
‘Post-PC’ era with these new devices, market research firm
International Data Corp. (IDC) said it expected the worldwide
market for information appliances to exceed 89 million units, or
$17.8 billion in 2004 vs. 11 million units and $2.4 billion in
1999.”
“According to IDC, it includes the shipments of Internet
gaming consoles (such as the Sega’s Dreamcast), Internet accessible
TVs (like Microsoft’s WebTV Networks), Internet smart handheld
devices (such as 3Com’s Palm VII), Web terminals, e-mail terminals
and screenphones.”