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Microsoft expects analysts' projections for PC market to decline

Microsoft's investor chief warns that PC shipments may be lower than analyst expectations due to flooding in Thailand, Bloomberg reports.

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Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Steven Musil

Microsoft warned today that PC sales in the fourth quarter may be lower than analysts had previously expected due to flooding in Thailand.

While analysts had expected PC shipments to fall about 1 percent, the actual number may be lower, Microsoft Windows CFO Tami Reller said during an appearance today at the Consumer Electronics Show, according to a Bloomberg report. Reller said during a Nomura Holdings event that more downward adjustments may be coming.

That opinion was echoed at a separate event by Bill Koefoed, the general manager of Investor Relations for Microsoft.

"As the numbers come out, you'll likely see that number decline further, as the impact has been felt faster than people had anticipated," Koefoed said at the J.P. Morgan Tech Forum at CES. He also called the supply chain "resilient" and said "some vendors have talked about how they're recovering faster than expected."

Intel warned in December that, largely due to the HDD shortage caused by flooding in Thailand, it will see a revenue shortfall of $1 billion. Earlier this month, hard-disk supplier Seagate Technology reiterated that demand for HDD units will exceed supply in 2012 in the wake of flooding last year in Thailand, which affected a third of the country.

Global PC shipments for the whole of 2012 are now expected to expand by only 6.8 percent in 2012, down from the previous outlook of 9.5 percent growth, according to iSuppli.