PC sales set to recover, study says
POSTED AT 11:10 AM EST Friday, December 6
PC sales set to recover, study says
Associated Press
New York — After sliding for more than a year,
worldwide shipments of personal computers are
supposed to swing back into a weak climbing
mode in 2002 — and leap by more than 8 per
cent next year, according to projections from
technology research firm IDC.
The company estimates global PC sales will rise
to 136 million, 1.6 per cent above last year's
total of 134 million but still below the peak in
2000, when makers shipped almost 140 million
machines.
Leading the growth is a surge in laptop purchases
in the second half of 2002 that IDC estimates at
almost 14 per cent above last year's levels.
By contrast, IDC predicts sales of desktop
machines will climb by slightly more than 2 per
cent in the same period.
The PC market is closely tied to the worldwide
economy, especially in the United States, which
is responsible for more than a third of the world's
PC purchases, said IDC PC analyst Loren
Loverde.
As long as the global economy improves in
2003, IDC expects shipments of PCs to climb
beyond 147 million, a growth rate of more than 8
per cent.
"That's pretty solid compared with the last two
years, but it doesn't compare well to growth in 2000, when we
were in double digits," Loverde said.
In the United States, third-quarter 2002 purchases got a boost
from an increase in government security spending, but a war in
Iraq could hurt consumer purchases next year, IDC said.
Government purchases in China also boosted performance in an
Asia-Pacific region that was otherwise bogged down by a
persistent slump in Japan, Loverde said.