Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Worldwide PC shipments are forecast to reach 293 million units this year, a 10.9% jump from 2007, a market research firm said. But weaker economic could drive the growth down to single digit.
By and large, the PC market is fundamentally in good shape, Gartner said. Mobile PCs are showing strong sales momentum, emerging markets are showing robust growth, and the pace of desktop PC replacements is starting to quicken.
"However, a deepening U.S. recession, the rising possibility of a sharp slowdown in China's economy following the Beijing Olympics, and the elevated price of oil mean global PC shipments face increasing economic headwinds," Gartner research director George Shiffler said in a statement.
Notebook sales remain a key growth driver in the PC market, Gartner said. Technology and design improvements have helped foster the popularity of mobile PCs by lowering prices and significantly improving their value relative to desktops.
Gartner expects demand for mobile PCs to increase as so-called "affordable" notebooks, which will have price points once thought impossible for mobile computers, become more widely available.
Another key driver behind PC shipments this year is emerging markets, where shipments increased by 22% in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared to the same period a year ago. Emerging markets accounted for 60% of worldwide PC unit growth in the quarter.
Strong economic growth in those markets is fueling PC sales, Shiffler said. "Rapid economic growth is not only stimulating PC demand among business, governments and educational institutions, but also generating new demand among the ever-growing numbers of increasingly affluent consumers."
Finally, the next replacement cycle for desktop PCs is expected to begin late this year and run through early 2010. While the sales boost is expected to be "substantially more modest" than the previous cycle from 2004 to 2005, it's still expected to be a key driver behind the increase in shipments expected this year, Gartner said.
By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved
|
