Windows ME boosted August PC sales by 60 per cent

Life in the old dog yet

By Linda Harrison in New York • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 11th September 2000 14:51 GMT

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August's PC sales saw 60 per cent growth, proving demand is not weakening in the sector.

According to Delaware-based company FHI Research.com, the PC is far from dead, with 60 per cent sequential and 68 per cent year-on-year growth in August. The company based its research on the US retail sector, but uses the data to reaffirm its previous forecast of 22 per cent worldwide PC unit growth for this year.

"This is still an extremely strong market," said Danny Lam, an analyst at FHI. The company says the only thing constraining the industry is the inability of companies such as Intel and AMD to meet demand for chips.

Lam puts August's huge growth rate largely down to the Windows ME operating system. "This year saw the same phenomenon as when Windows 98 was released," said Lam, who adds that OEMs held off on shipping PCs bundled with Windows 98 in the last couple of months before ME appeared. This affected the shipping figures.

But FHI is convinced that the outlook for the PC market is anything but gloomy. "Although our data and estimates of fall 2,000 PC demand awaits confirmation, preliminary results show that the PC, far from being 'dead', is reaffirming its place as the mainstay and preferred computing and internet access platform around the world," it stated. ®