The dark clouds looming over the PC industry may finally be lifting, but not in time to stimulate annual market growth, according to Gartner.
The research firm has upgraded its 2009 forecast, and now expects PC shipments to reach 285 million.
This is a 2% decline from 2008 levels, but still a more optimistic forecast than Gartner's June prediction, which anticipated shipments to decline by up to 6%.
“PC demand appears be running much stronger than we expected back in June, especially in the US and China,” Gartner research director George Shiffler said, adding that sales may return to quarterly growth in Q4.
But sales would have to increase at least 4% over 2008 levels in the second half of 2009 in order to stimulate annual growth, Shiffler said. This is a target that the market is unlikely to reach even if the October launch of Windows 7 stimulates the expected sales boom, he warned.
Gartner has predicted that unit sales will increase by 12.6% in 2010 as the market regains its momentum. But ASPs will continue to decline across the industry, leaving revenue growth flat.