Laptop Revenue To Surpass Desktops In 2007

A number of industry analysts believe that 2007 will be the year in which revenues from sales of laptops surpass those of desktop computers. According to Richard Farmer, analyst with Merrill Lynch, the current revenue split for PC makers (47 percent desktops, 41.6 percent laptops) will change in 2007 to 45.6 percent laptops and 43.1 percent desktops. By 2008, estimates put revenues from laptops at nearly 50 percent, with desktops representing just 40 percent of revenues.

Richard Shim, an analyst with IDC, agrees that revenues for laptops will continue to increase and will pass those from desktops, though he added that the number of desktops shipped will outpace the number of laptops until late 2008 or 2009. One reason revenues are expected to change sooner than shipments is that laptops command higher prices than comparable desktops.

eWeek, 19 December 2006