Worldwide workstation shipments decline

Worldwide workstation shipments totalled 1.4 million in 2001, an 11% decline from 2000, according to preliminary results from Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner.

In 2000, workstation shipments surpassed 1.6 million units. The year 2001 marks the first time in the history of the workstation market that the industry experienced a decline in shipments from the previous year.

"The workstation market remains fundamentally weak, although it might have bottomed out in the third quarter of 2001 after four consecutive declines," said Pia Rieppo, principal analyst covering workstations for Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platform Worldwide group.

"The depressed economy, the lack of key new technology drivers and cautious buying behaviour have all made the workstation market recovery tough. We believe there are still a few quarters to go before the workstation market regains its momentum."