Steep first quarter drop in worldwide PC sales
WASHINGTON (AFP) - - Worldwide sales of personal computers fell sharply in the first three months of the year but the US market held up better than others, market research firms IDC and Gartner reported Wednesday.
IDC said worldwide shipments of desktop and portable PCs fell 7.1 percent in the first three months of the year compared with last year while Gartner said they registered a decline of 6.5 percent in the quarter to 67.2 million units.
"We are seeing some evidence of channel inventory restocking, particularly in the US," said Gartner research director George Shiffler. "This restocking should not be interpreted as a recovery in PC end-user demand; it’s still unclear if the global PC market has hit the bottom."
Shiffler’s comments contrasted with those of Intel president Paul Otellini, who said Tuesday that the world’s biggest computer-chip maker believed PC sales had "bottomed out during the first quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns."
