Growth in PC sales set to slow down

Personal-computer shipments worldwide will grow at a slower rate than originally anticipated in the third quarter this year, says JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Analysts at JPMorgan reduced their PC unit growth forecast to 10% from 12% for the third quarter. Consumer demand “may be more muted than we previously anticipated,” the analysts said in a note to investors.

Competition in the computer hardware industry has heated up after Dell Inc overtook Hewlett-Packard Co as the top PC maker last year. International Business Machines Corp is the world’s third-largest maker of personal computers.

“We continue to believe that declining component prices will favour Dell,” the JPMorgan analysts said in the note.