http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5082303.htmlComputer shipments, new orders decline
By Ed Frauenheim
CNET News.com
In a discouraging sign for the information technology industry, shipments of computers and related products dropped 10.5 percent from July to August, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Thursday.
New orders for computers and related products fell 2.3 percent during the same period. August shipments totaled $7.67 billion, and new orders were valued at $7.96 billion.
Computers and related products--a category that includes computer storage devices and peripheral gear such as printers--suffered a worse downturn than the overall manufacturing sector. In general, new orders for manufactured durable goods fell 0.9 percent in August, to $173.3 billion, while shipments fell 2.9 percent to $176.3 billion, the Commerce Department said.
The report runs counter to more encouraging news about the direction of IT spending. Credit ratings company Standard & Poor's recently said the IT hardware industry is witnessing "modest and sporadic" signs of growth. Earlier this summer, research firms IDC and Gartner concluded that the PC market grew faster than expected in the second quarter.
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