Survey: Retail PC Sales Down

NEW YORK (AP) â€” The number of personal computers sold by retailers on and off the Web fell during December despite a drop in average price, a tracking firm reported Wednesday. <br><br>According to PC

Wednesday, January 3rd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) â€” The number of personal computers sold by retailers on and off the Web fell during December despite a drop in average price, a tracking firm reported Wednesday.

According to PC Data of Reston, Va., more than 1 million PCs were sold last month, a 24 percent decrease compared to December 1999. It was the fifth month in a row sales fell and the second month in a row of double-digit declines.

The company tracked sales at retail stores, mail-order outlets and third party resellers on the Internet to obtain its information. The survey didn't include data on direct sales from computer manufacturers; for example, online sales by Dell Computer Corp. are not included.

For the entire year, sales of PCs fell 0.8 percent to 10.1 million units, the first annual decline ever reported by PC Data.

A 7 percent drop in the average price for a PC from a year ago, to an average $846, wasn't enough to boost sales.

``A spike occurred during the week before Christmas, but it fell short of the boost needed to lift overall sales during the holiday shopping season,'' said Stephen Baker, PC Data's vice president of technology products research and analysis.