Global shipments of personal computers are on track to rise 12.7 per cent to 206.6 million units in 2005, but revenues for manufacturers will rise only slightly due to big price cuts, according to an international survey.
Revenues from total PC shipments are expected to rise just 0.5 per cent to €165 billion this year, research group Gartner forecast in research published today.
Falling prices have become a fact of life for the computer industry and are expected to offset the benefits from higher shipments in 2006, when vendors unit sales are forecast to rise 10.5 per cent. Revenues are then expected to slip 0.4 per cent.
Sales growth is fuelled by strong demand for laptops thanks to lower prices and easier wireless connections to the Internet which make wireless computing more accessible. Worldwide mobile PC units are forecast to grow 31 percent in 2005, Gartner said.