PC shipments to rise but revenues will fall

Price cuts are predicted to drive international PC shipments this year but revenues are likely to decline, according to analyst Gartner.

PC shipments are on track to hit 233.7m units this year, representing a 10.5 per cent increase on 2005. But PC revenue is forecast to reach $198.3bn, 2.5 per cent less than last year according to the company's latest forecast on the PC market.

‘Unit growth will continue to be price driven for the next several quarters as PC replacement activity wanes and the battle between Intel and AMD escalates,' said George Shiffler, research director for Gartner Dataquest’s Client Platforms research programme.

‘Steeper PC price declines will spur unit growth in mature markets like the US over the near term, but growth will eventually slow to mid-single digits in these markets as PC replacements fade and saturation becomes more problematic,' he said.

Shiffler believes the launch of Microsoft’s Vista operating system early next year could propel sales.

‘Vista’s eventual release next year could stimulate some added growth, but we remain sceptical of Vista’s impact,' he said.