Gartner forecasts drop in PC shipments

The success of mini-notebooks has cushioned the blow of the recession

Sales of PCs are set to fall this year as the recession continues to bite, according to figures out today from analyst firm Gartner.

The firm forecast worldwide PC shipments would reach 274 million units in 2009, a six per cent decline from 2008 shipments of 292 million. However, Gartner predicted positive growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, leading to recovery in 2010 with unit shipments predicted to grow 10.3 percent.

PC unit growth was stronger than we expected in all markets but Eastern Europe in the first quarter of 2009," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner.

"However, professional shipments continued to struggle, and we think much of the growth in consumer units was due to vendors and the channel restocking inventories rather than an upsurge in demand."

The rate of decline in PC sales has been slowed due to the continuing popularity of mini-notebooks, with units on target to reach 21 million this year and 30 million next year, said Gartner.

Mobile-PC shipments are set to reach 149 million units in 2009, a 4.1 per cent increase from 2008, but spending on mobile PCs is expected to decline 12.8 per cent as mobile-PC average selling prices continue to drop at an unprecedented rate, the analyst firm added.

Gartner also said that the impact of Windows 7's release later this year on the PC market would be minimal.