The overall demand for PCs is forecast to sink 12.5% in 2009, compared with last year, but laptop demand will stay stronger than that for desktops, Merrill Lynch analyst Dan Heyler wrote in a Jan. 7 report.
However, Dan Sontag, president of the global wealth management group at Merrill Lynch--now part of Bank of America--said in a press conference that the downturn is slowing and that the affluent are starting to spend yet again.