Nov 25, 2009
Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments are expected to increase 2.8 percent in 2009 from last year to total 298.9 million units, showing the market is noticeably improving, U.S. information technology research firm Gartner said Monday.
"Shipments in the third quarter of 2009 were much stronger than we expected, and that alone virtually guaranteed we would see positive growth this year," George Shiffler, research director at Gartner, said in a statement.
According to Gartner, global PC shipments are projected to reach 336.6 million units in 2010, up 12.6 percent from 2009.
But Gartner also cautioned that despite the forecast growth of PC shipments, the market value is expected to drop 10.7 percent from last year to 217 billion U.S. dollars.
"Blame this year's drop in market value on the unprecedented declines in PC average selling prices we've seen this year," said Shiffler.
The decline of PC average selling prices is expected to slow as the market recovers, but given the market's competitive dynamic, PC average selling prices may not rise any time soon, he noted.
"As a result, growth in the market value of shipments will significantly lag shipment growth next year and beyond," Shiffler concluded.
For 2010, Gartner projected the market value of PC shipments to reach 222.9 billion dollars, a 2.6-percent increase over 2009.