PC Sales to Surge in 1995 with Windows 95 and Pentium Chips

The imminent release of Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system and the growing popularity of Pentium chips are expected to propel PC sales in 1995, with Channel Marketing Corp. predicting a 33 percent surge over last year's 25.6 million units. This increase is driven by the adoption of Pentium-based PCs, which currently account for nearly 60 percent of all sales and are estimated to grow to almost 80 percent by year-end. Corporate adoption of Pentium technology is also on the rise, with prices for Pentium notebooks expected to decline towards the end of the year.

Key Takeaways:

• PC sales are predicted to increase by 33 percent in 1995, reaching 34.2 million units, driven by the release of Windows 95 and the growing popularity of Pentium chips.
• Pentium-based PCs currently account for nearly 60 percent of all sales and are expected to grow to almost 80 percent by year-end, driven by corporate adoption.
• The release of Windows 95 will have a significant impact on the market, with sales of plug and play devices, additional memory, and hard disk drives expected to soar before year-end.
• The consumer and small business markets have driven the growth of Pentium technology to date, but corporate adoption is becoming increasingly important.
• Pentium notebooks will become increasingly popular as prices decline towards the end of the year.

Statistics:

• PC sales are predicted to increase by 33 percent in 1995, from 25.6 million units in 1994.
• Pentium-based PCs currently account for 60 percent of all sales and are expected to grow to 80 percent by year-end.
• Sales of plug and play devices, additional memory, and hard disk drives are expected to soar by year-end, driven by the release of Windows 95.
• The number of Pentium notebooks is expected to decline in price as competition increases.

Sources:

• Channel Marketing Corp. (Dallas-based research firm)
• David Goldstein, President of Channel Marketing Corp., as quoted in the article.