PC Sales Outlook Brighter In Second HalfPC Sales Outlook Brighter In Second Half

Global PC sales will increase just slightly in the first quarter of 2003, but the second half of the year looks brighter, Gartner Dataquest said in a preliminary forecast it released Tuesday.

Shipments of PCs will be about 5% higher in the first quarter of this year compared with 2002, Gartner predicts. But during the second half of 2003, PC shipments should exceed 2002's comparable time frame by about 8%.

Concerns about the economy, which in turn are driven by uncertainties over a possible war with Iraq, are a drag on PC sales to businesses, Gartner says in its forecast. A resolution of the latter, and an improvement in the former, should spur sales.