Personal computer shipments picking up in
U.S. - study
NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Following ``sluggish'' first half
growth, U.S. shipments of personal computers are expected to
increase in the third quarter, research firm International Data
Corp said in a report released Thursday.
IDC revised its forecast of third-quarter U.S sales upward to
almost 13 million units, representing a 10.6-percent gain
year-over-year.
``U.S. home PC volume is expected to improve based on back-to-school sales,'' said Bruce
Stephen, IDC group vice president.
The United States joins a global pick up in PC shipments, which should reach 33.4 million in
the fourth quarter, IDC said, an 18.5 percent increase over the year-ago period.
IDC saw ``heated growth'' in the Asian Pacific and Japanese markets for consumer desktops
and portable PCs.
Vendors strongly positioned there, such as Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news),
Dell Computer Corp. (NasdaqNM:DELL - news), Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP -
news) and Gateway Inc. (NYSE:GTW - news), are poised to benefit from year-on-year
growth of 36 percent in Asia and 35 percent in Japan.
Japan's strong performance was tied to consumer PC consumption and an ongoing recovery
in the commercial market.
Western European markets, where Internet demand and retail packages should spur fourth
quarter gains, are expected to post 14.5 percent growth year-over-year. IDC also reported
an anticipated recovery in European commercial sales. |
