Printer sales in Australia fell 12 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003 to 390,000 units, and are expected to fall another 13 percent for the full year 2004, IDC said.

A global anti-piracy lobby group has claimed that bringing down software piracy would boost local software development and that local ISPs should be roped into stopping online pirates.

The Australian PC market grew 9.6 percent in the first calendar quarter compared to the final quarter of 2003, driven by strong notebook sales, according to figures released by IDC.

'Competitive battleground' taking shape as data proliferates.

One out of five Australian households will have a home network by 2009, analyst IDC has predicted.

Long-term outlook on the up, according to IDC.

Most important software trend in decades, says IDC.

Short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS) and wireless IP data and content will drive a growth in Australian mobile phone users by 2007, according to research firm IDC.

The number of Australian mobile phone users will grow to 19.2 million this year, according to an industry analyst.

PDA shipments in the first quarter of 2005 have declined by 26 percent, according to analyst IDC.

The 'thin client' computing market grew by almost 50 percent in Australia last year due to reduced costs and increased security, said industry analyst IDC.

IT spending by Australia's telecommunications sector grew to $1.949 billion dollars in 2003, accounting for 20 percent of the corporate IT spend locally, latest IDC research has suggested.

IDC reports steady transition to portable PCs.

Latest IDC figures have tipped wireless broadband use to grow five times faster than the total broadband market, exploding from 25,000 users to 287,000 users by 2008.

Lower prices have helped push LCD ahead of CRT as the preferred choice of display technology in Australia, according to figures from industry analyst IDC.

Australians are increasingly opting for broadband, with one in three internet users predicted to have broadband connections by the end of the year.