As Apple appears to have avoided the plague of earnings warnings and 2002 profit reassessments among PC makers, those who watch the industry for a living say the worst is yet to come for the PC sector. In an article at Smartmoney.com, Roger Kay, director of client computing at market research firm IDC, is quoted as saying “a real drying-up [of consumer demand]” for PCs has now engulfed the industry. Consumer PC sales in the U.S. are expected to fall 29% this year, Kay said, with shipments likely to fall another 6% in 2002. Worldwide PC sales are expected to decline 5% this year.
