Gartner has lowered global forecasts for PC sales for the second half of the year due to the continued economic volatility in the US and European economies.
The company said in a statement that shipments will increase by 15.3% for year-on-year in the second half, which is about 2% less than the company’s previous forecast.
“There is no doubt that consumer, if not business PC demand has slowed relative to expectations in mature markets,” research director Ranjit Atwal said in a statement.
“Recent dramatic shifts in the PC supply chain were in no small part a reaction to fears of a sharp slowdown in mature-market demand. However, suppliers’ risk-aversion is as much a factor in these shifts as any actual downshift in demand.”
However, Gartner says computer manufacturers could also risk being a little more bullish, given that “consumers now view the PC as a relative necessity rather than a luxury and will continue to spend on PCs… even at the expense of other consumer electronic devices”.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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