Merrill Lynch predicts PC market will grow 13% in 2004

Merrill Lynch believes the world PC market will grow 13% this year, the same rate of growth experienced in 2003, the company told investors yesterday. It originally had 2004 growth down as 11%, but raised its expectations on the back of "decent consumer showing and an improving corporate market" in the last quarter of last year. ML's figures cast HP in the role of market leader, with 15.3% of the PCs sold around the world during Q3 2004 coming from that company. However, it warned that Dell could easily "leapfrog" HP during the first half of this year. Dell took 14.5% of the market.