Here's what everyone's missing about the shrinking PC market - and why it's good for Intel

IDC's latest report on the PC market was brutal: Worldwide PC shipments were down 10.6% year-over-year in the last quarter of 2015, reaching the lowest level since 2008.

It's expected to drop another 3.1% this year, IDC said, putting PCs into a deeper hole.

But there's one nugget of information in the IDC report that points to a possible revival of the PC market: if you include detachable tablets, or tablets that double as laptops, the PC market is projected to grow 1% to 2% in 2016.

That may sound like minor growth, but given that the PC business has been in perpetual decline for years, any growth is good - and particularly good for companies like Intel, which has historically derived most of its sales from PC chips.

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