Mainland PC sales growth drops to 5-year low

Personal computer sales growth in China is expected to fall to 18% year-on-year in 2008, the slowest increase in five years, state media reported, citing figures from International Data Corp. Overall sales for the year will reach 42 million units. Analysts attributed slowing sales to an uncertain economic environment as well as disasters like the May earthquake in Sichuan, but said sales in the domestic industry worked on a four- to five-year cycle and would likely pick up in 2009. The introduction next year of the ultra-mobile PC (UMPC), a relatively cheap portable computer with internet connectivity but fewer features than most other PCs, is expected to draw attention in the sector.