Gartner Dataquest Says Worldwide PC Market Experienced Flat Growth in First Quarter 2002
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U.S. PC Market Showed First Positive Growth in a Year SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2002--After consecutive quarters of negative growth in the worldwide and U.S. PC market, shipment totals in the first quarter of 2002 showed flat growth in the worldwide market and slight growth in the U.S. market, according to preliminary results from Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT - news and ITB - news).
Worldwide PC shipments totaled 32.7 million units in the first quarter of 2002, or flat in growth terms over the same period last year (see Table 1). PC shipments in the United States reached 11.1 million units, a 2.3 percent increase from the previous year.
``First quarter 2002 growth rates are based upon weak market performances in the same quarter a year ago and therefore, despite the apparently better growth rate figures, in reality, both the U.S. and worldwide markets remain sluggish,'' said Charles Smulders, vice president of Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platforms Worldwide group. ``At best, these numbers suggest the market is returning to more normal seasonal growth patterns, but with little evidence of return to growth in the large accounts segment, the market outlook for 2002 remains highly uncertain.'' |