BMW's Out: Yuppies Prefer Pentiums

Yeah, yeah, a BMW still has a roomier ride than a Pentium, but what's a hotshot to do now that the '80s are long gone and Ab Fab is all the rage?

PCs are hot and sales are expected to remain healthy, industry analysts claim. Not only hot, but cool. According to one analyst, a 100-MHz Pentium PC confers the same level of cool that a BMW did in the madcap '80s.

According to a report from International Data Corporation, PC shipments rose 23 percent during the first quarter to reach 4.7 units, and PC retailer CompUSA is reporting a 20 percent sales increase for its fourth quarter.

Demand for PCs, not BMWs, is being driven by the lust for new CD-ROM games and other titles, analysts say. Home computers accounted for 31.7 percent of the PC market last year, according to Dataquest figures, up from 28.6 percent in 1993.