Gartner: PC shipments up 2.8 percent this year, revenue down 10.7 percent

Research firm Gartner predicts global PC shipments will reach 298.9 million units this year, a 2.8 percent increase from 2008. The bad news is that revenue suffered from a fierce contraction, the market value of PC shipments is expected to total $217 billion in 2009, a 10.7 percent decline from 2008. Next year PC shipments are expected to grow 12.6 percent to 336.6 million units, while revenue is estimated to grow 2.6 percent to $222.9 billion.

The recent forecast is more optimistic than Gartner's final September forecast, which anticipated a 2% decline in shipments for 2009. "Shipments in the third quarter of 2009 were much stronger than we expected, and that alone virtually guaranteed we would see positive growth this year," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner. "We're anticipating seasonally modest growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, but because shipments were so weak in the fourth quarter of 2008, growth will appear quite strong. This could lull vendors and market watchers into thinking the market is recovering faster than it really is."

More info at DigiTimes.