NEWS: IDC Raises Global PC Shipment Forecast

IDC Raises Global PC Shipment Forecast

By DAN NYSTEDT, IDG News Service\Taipei Bureau, IDG

Published: June 12, 2008

Strong demand from emerging markets and an appetite for portable computers, including laptop PCs, prompted IDC to raise its global PC shipment forecast Wednesday.

More news from IDG

• CIO - Business Technology Leadership
• Computerworld - News & Top Stories on Software, Hardware, Windows & VOIP
• Infoworld - Get Technology Right
• Network World - Software, Hardware, Electronics & Gadgets
• The Industry Standard

IDC now expects worldwide PC shipments to grow 15.2 percent this year to 310 million units, up from a previous forecast of 12.8 percent growth.

"The increase is due to the revised outlook for portables in which IDC expects a longer run of elevated portable PC growth than in earlier projections," IDC said in a statement. New users in emerging markets are also driving growth.

Shipments of portable computers will rise 34.5 percent this year to 145.3 million units, IDC said, while shipments of desktop PCs and x86 servers will grow just 2.2 percent to 164.7 million.

The revised growth prediction highlights continued strength in the global IT industry despite economic jitters caused by high oil prices, credit troubles in the U.S. and rising inflation.

"Earlier in the year, the U.S. PC industry held its breath regarding the impact of the economic slowdown on PC shipments," said Richard Shim, research manager of IDC's Personal Computing program, in a statement. "It's now clear that the [U.S.] commercial market will not see the refresh activity we had previously expected and we have lowered short-term projections as a result. Still, the consumer market remains relatively healthy and the overall U.S. PC market will chug along at decent levels – albeit slower than previous forecasts and other regions – while consumer growth continues."

The Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan, will remain the strongest growth factor for the PC industry in coming years. The region surpassed the U.S. as the region with the largest PC market in total annual shipments at the end of last year. The rest of the world, including Africa, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Canada, is not far behind the U.S. now, according to IDC...