Global PC shipments are expected to grow by 13% in 1998 despite market turmoil, according to forecasts made by the International Data Corporation this week. The weakness of the Asian markets is being offset by solid demand in the US, Western Europe and Latin America. US vendor shipments are expected to grow by 15.4% and Western European shipments by 13.8%, both markets being spurred by strong demand for low-cost machines. Growth in the Asia-pacific markets is predicted to be much slower. Although China, India and Taiwan are expected to show continued strength, the weakness of other Asian countries, especially Korea and Japan, will bring the rate of growth in the region overall down to 6.9%. Although this is welcome news for the PC industry, the rate of growth is actually lower than last year’s overall growth rate of 15.2% and each region has in fact seen a fall in its rate of growth.
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