The PC sales is showing signs of rebounding, but the speed at which revenue will improve is still uncertain, reported market-research firm Gartner. PC sales are on target to reach $38.3 billion in the second quarter of this year, a 2.6% increase from the same period a year ago, Gartner said. Shipments are forecast to hit 30.7 million units, a 6.4% increase from a year ago.

For the year, Gartner projects shipments to reach 136.9 million units, a 6.6% increase from last year. Revenue for 2003 is on pace to total $170.6 billion, up 3.3% from 2002.

While the increases are nothing like the double-digit growth rates of the boom years in the late 1990s, they do reflect a turnaround in IT spending overall, which has dropped 6.2% over the last two years combined. High-tech researcher IDC expects companies worldwide to spend 2.3% more this year than last year to $871 billion.

Gartner said the increases in PC shipments and revenue mean companies are starting to replace desktops that have been around for three or four years. "It's the first step on the way to a recovery," Gartner analyst George Shiffler said. "There are some factors working to build momentum in the market."

Gartner expects many companies to hold on to their older PCs even longer because of the uncertainty of the U.S. and global economies. Within the PC industry, vendors are trying to boost sales by marketing notebooks that can connect to the Internet through a wireless connection. Intel, for example, has launched Centrino, which Gartner expects to become a mainstream choice of large businesses.

However, the mobile push isn't expected to have much of an impact in the short term, because companies typically take from three to six months to evaluate new technology. In addition, the Tablet PC, mobile hardware launched in November 2002, has failed to make a dent in the business market, accounting for only 1% of total mobile PC shipments in the first year of 2003, Gartner said.

By: DocMemory
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