Unsold iMacs piling up

You should not have to wait if you want a LampMac, according to a CNet report, which reckons Ingram Micro, a big US distributor, is sitting on more than three months unsold inventory. It seems the whole desktop computer market is struggling, though only 10 days ago, market research company IDC raised its worldwide PC shipment forecast for 2002 from 3% to 4.7% growth. It could just be that buyers have noticed the iMac is a little expensive. (In the UK, prices start at £1,249 for a machine with a 700MHz processor, whereas Dell's starting price for a flat panel PC with a 2GHz processor is currently £879.) It could be that more buyers are turning to Apple's retail shops or Apple's online store, where Apple competes against its own distributors and retailers. Or it could be that with the economy threatening to collapse around their ears, consumers have other things to think about than computer upgrades that don't actually deliver anything like $1,400/£1,250 of extra value.