by , 5:00 PM EST, January 31st, 2008

Gartner, Inc. said that Apple will double its U.S. and Western Europe unit market share in computers by 2011 on Thursday. The projection, published out of Egham, UK, was published as part of its ten key predictions of events and developments that will affect IT and business in 2008 and beyond.

"The predictions highlight areas where executives and IT professionals need to take action in 2008," The report said. "The full impact of these trends may not appear this year, but executives need to act now so that they can exploit the trends for their competitive advantage."

Most notable was the first of the ten predictions:

"By 2011, Apple will double its U.S. and Western Europe unit market share in Computers. Apple's gains in computer market share reflect as much on the failures of the rest of the industry as on Apple's success. Apple is challenging its competitors with software integration that provides ease of use and flexibility; continuous and more frequent innovation in hardware and software; and an ecosystem that focuses on interoperability across multiple devices (such as iPod and iMac cross-selling)."

Also notable, especially with regard to the Apple iPhone, iPod touch and buzz about a possible Apple iTablet, was the second prediction:

"By 2012, 50 per cent of traveling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices. Even though notebooks continue to shrink in size and weight, traveling workers lament the weight and inconvenience of carrying them on their trips. Vendors are developing solutions to address these concerns: new classes of Internet-centric pocketable devices at the sub-$400 level; and server and Web-based applications that can be accessed from anywhere. There is also a new class of applications: portable personality that encapsulates a user's preferred work environment, enabling the user to recreate that environment across multiple locations or systems."

The full list of ten predictions is must reading for technologists, analysts, CIOs and IT managers.