PC sales down 2.4 pct in second quarter: IDC

Worldwide sales of personal computers fell 2.4 percent in the second quarter and declined by 19.1 percent in value, market research firm IDC reported Wednesday.

Sales of desktop computers fell 17 percent in the second quarter from a year ago as businesses limited spending and the market continued to shift to portable computers, IDC said in its Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker report.

It said the only area registering growth in the quarter was consumer portable computers with shipments increasing 44 percent from a year ago.

Traditional notebooks recorded 13 percent growth although shipment value was down six percent.

The mini-notebook, or netbook, share of consumer portables rose to 26 percent from just five percent a year ago, IDC said.

The shift is taking a toll on shipment value, however, as netbooks average just over 400 dollars each compared to more than 900 dollars for traditional laptops, IDC said.

The market research firm said it expected desktop volume to be flat in 2010 and portable computer growth of 16.5 percent during the year to drive overall volume gains.

IDC said it expects portable computer shipments to increase at an average growth rate of over 17 percent through 2013.

(c) 2009 AFP