PC Prices Will Keep Dropping as Component Prices Fall

Gartner says PCs sold in the US for an average price of $960 in Q2 2005, down 15% from Q2 2004. Gartner expects total US PC sales to fall to $59.1 billion 2005. That's down from $59.6 billion in 2004 and a peak of $88 billion in 2000.

Digitimes reports this week that:

• DDR and DDR2 pricing is under a lot of downward pressure, with volatility in the spot market hitting 5% a day.
• CMC Magnetics and Ritek, the top two producers of optical discs in Taiwan, have lowered OEM quotations for 8x DVD+R/-R discs from US$0.20 to US$0.18 for retail chains and distributors in the US, according to industry sources.
• As LCD monitor prices declined over the last five quarters, retail sales skyrocketed, and the market experienced subsequent quarterly gains. Retail LCD monitor prices declined an average 36% from the third quarter of 2004 to the third quarter of 2005, led by 19-inch prices, which declined by a whopping 42% in the same period.