PC shipments to see first drop since 2001

LOS ANGELES, USA: Global personal computer shipments will fall in 2009 for the first time since the dotcom bubble burst in 2001, research house iSuppli said, reversing an earlier forecast for meager growth this year.

But the market should recover in 2010, when shipments are expected to climb 4.7 percent, the industry trackers said.

Laptops continue to shine in a depressed market. iSuppli expects shipments of notebook PCs to climb 11.7 percent to 155.97 million units in 2009, exceeding sales of desktop computers for the first time ever.

PC makers from Dell and Hewlett-Packard to Taiwan's Acer are coping with the industry's worst downturn in decades, though some analysts expect growth in sales to resume in coming quarters.

Worldwide PC shipments are expected to slip 4 percent to 287.3 million units in 2009, from 299.2 million in 2008, as cash-strapped consumers shun desktops and cost-conscious corporations hold off on buying new servers, iSuppli said.

The research house had previously predicted 0.7 percent growth for the year.

"An annual decline in unit shipments is highly unusual in the PC market," said Matthew Wilkins, a principal analyst for iSuppli. "Even in weak years, PC unit shipments typically rise by single-digit percentages.

"Mobility is winning out in the PC market," Wilkins added.

According to iSuppli, PC shipments last fell in 2001, when sales of computers plummeted relative to the extraordinary run-up during the heady days of 2000. They slid 5.1 percent to just under 150 million units in 2001, iSuppli said.