Home > Plugged In > Archives > 2008 > November > 12
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Prognosis for PC sales: Grim
It’s getting ugly out there for personal computer makers.
The current recession has sparked “rapid, seismic changes in consumer behavior” that have made this holiday season “the most difficult climate we’ve ever seen,” Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson said today. The company dropped its forecast for the current quarter, just days after its main rival, Circuit City, declared bankruptcy.
Best Buy’s news prompted another round of pessimistic research notes from analysts today, many saying the announcement confirmed their expectations of a tough holiday season for computer makers.
Even before Circuit City’s news, UBS analyst Ben Reitzes said the smaller, cheaper netbooks popular this year would put a damper on average PC sales prices through the holiday season. Yesterday, he dropped his revenue estimate on Dell and H-P for the second time in a month.
It doesn’t look like it’ll get any better next year. Research firm IDC, which tracks technology sales, lowered its forecast today for worldwide technology spending growth in 2009 — dropping it to 2.6 percent from 5.9 percent. For the U.S., IDC scaled back its estimate to 0.9 percent from 4.2 percent.
Any way you slice it, the recession is making life difficult for computer and information-technology companies. Then again, it’s not exactly roses for the rest of us, either.
