PC Prices to Heat Pockets

Gartner Says Prices of PCs to Rise by Up to 10 Percent in 2015

Gartner said prices of PCs in the Eurozone and Japan, in particular, will increase by up to 10 percent during 2015.

Device vendors will have to raise the prices of PCs to offset the effects of currency devaluation, according to Gartner.

Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner said, “PC vendors selling to Europe and Japan, where local currencies have fallen up to 20 percent since the start of 2015, have little choice than to raise prices to preserve profits.”

In 2015, Gartner estimates that end-user spending in constant dollars* in Western Europe will reach $116 million, a 4 percent increase over 2014. This increase reflects the expected price increases in local currency.

“Device vendors will mitigate the impact of their declining “dollarized” profits by taking advantage of single-digit-percentage decreases in PC component costs during 2015, and by selling PCs with fewer features to keep prices down,” said Mr. Atwal.