Gartner’s latest report unveiled a staggering fact: there are over 1 billion personal computers in use worldwide, and the number is expected to surpass two billions within the next 6 years.

Analysts from the research firm found a 12 percent annual growth. Despite the fact that the largest part of the installed base of PCs is in mature markets, emerging markets strongly support an accelerated growth.

Mature markets such as the United States, Western Europe, and Japan account for 58 percent of the total number of installed PCs worldwide, but at the same time, they only account for 15 percent of the world’s population, as George Shiffler, research director at Gartner, pointed out.

The large economic disparities between mature and emerging markets are heavily reflected in these statistics. Despite of that, the emerging markets benefit from a rapid economic development, which contributes to the cutback of these disparities.

The per capita PC penetration in emerging markets is expected to double by 2013, according to Gartner analysts, a phenomenon that can be explained through an expansion in broadband and wireless connectivity, as well as a decline in the PC average selling prices for emerging markets.

As for the next billion installed PC expected by 2014, emerging markets are predicted to account for 70 percent of it.

Citizens in emerging markets currently benefit from a series of governmental programs meant to bring PC technology to those who couldn’t normally afford it, thus decreasing the digital divide, as Luis Anavitarte, research vice president at Gartner, said.

The current installed PC base consists not only of new PCs, but also of second hand ones, which reenter the circuit, instead of being tossed away.Gartner analysts estimated that this year alone, 180 million PCs, which represent 16 percent of the current installed base, will be replaced.

Unfortunately, approximately one fifth of them will be dumped regardless of environmental concerns, and the problem is expected to deepen as the number of retired PCs grows and the installed base expands.