Cheap Computers Help Expand
PC Market, Two Studies Report
By MARK BOSLET
Dow Jones Newswires
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Low-cost "sub-$1,000" computers helped expand the U.S. computer market this year, and the number of households with computers rose significantly for the first time in two years, two research firms have found.
Between 42% and 43% of U.S. households now have computers, compared with 39.4% at the end of last year, International Data Corp. said Friday. In a separate study released earlier this week, Dataquest also found an increase in household penetration. The study found that 43% of homes in the U.S. have PCs, up from 35% last year.
Both surveys also found buying intentions were strong for the holiday season, meaning that market penetration could climb even higher by January.
Compared with last Christmas, twice as many consumers surveyed said they had plans to buy computers this year, said Bill Ablondi, an analyst at IDC. This means between one million and 1.5 million households could purchase machines during the holidays, pushing penetration up to 44% or 45%, he said.
Dataquest said its survey, conducted during October and November, found 10.2% of U.S. households plan on purchasing a computer in the next six months.
That's an increase of 1.5 million households from last fall's survey, the research firm said.
Children's educational use and a desire to use the Internet were top reasons motivating the purchases.
But not all consumers were interested in low-priced, sub-$1,000 machines, a category that has shown strong growth this year. Among people planning to buy a machine, 70% expect to pay $1,250 or more, Mr. Ablondi said.
Nevertheless, "the pricing dynamics in the U.S. consumer PC market have clearly increased purchase intent," said Dataquest analyst Scott Miller. |
