Report: Quad-Core Desktop Adoption To Pick Up Steam

In fact, quad-core chips are expected to appear in more than half of all mainstream desktop PCs by late 2009, predicts market research firm iSuppli, in El Segundo, Calif.

Intel launched its first quad-core desktop processors at last year's Intel Developer Forum in November, and in January launched its first quad-core processors designed for mainstream PCs. The Core 2 Quad Q6600 desktop processor, launched in January, brings the greatest benefit to multithreaded applications and high-definition video content, says Intel.

However, high costs and limited availability have restricted quad cores so far to the realm of high-end PCs costing upward of $1,000, which only comprise a fraction of the total PC market, says iSuppli.

But analysts predict by the third quarter of 2007, quad cores will appear in 5 percent of mainstream desktops, increasing steadily to reach 18 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and 49 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.

For PC resellers, mainstream desktops represent some 42 percent of desktop shipments, second only to desktops priced under $500 -- which comprise a little more than half of the overall market, says iSuppli.

In addition, mainstream notebooks aren't expected to feature the quad cores until early 2009, say the researchers. By the end of that year, iSuppli predicts 11 percent of mainstream notebooks will include quad-cores.