PC Ownership Reaches Half of U.S. Homes

Half of U.S. households had a personal computer last year, up from 43% in 1997, as models costing less than $1,000 paced the growth in consumer buying, according to Dataquest Inc. In 1995, 27% of U.S. homes had a PC, the San Jose-based researcher said.

Worldwide PC shipments rose 15% last year, with No. 2 computer maker Compaq Computer Corp. shipping almost 13 million units. Lower-priced models and consumers’ urge to explore the Internet expanded the PC’s appeal across social and economic groups, Dataquest found.

“The PC is rapidly becoming a standard household appliance,” said Van Baker, director for Dataquest’s consumer market research.

The popularity of other computer devices also increased last year. Worldwide hand-held computer shipments rose 61% to more than 3.9 million units, Dataquest said. 3Com Corp.’s PalmPilot led the industry with a 40% share of the market.