About 302 million units will be shipped in 2008, Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC said Wednesday in a quarterly report. In December, IDC projected growth of 12.2 percent.

Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s biggest PC maker, and rivals Dell Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd. and Acer Inc. are selling more laptops because competition is driving down prices. That’s bringing in more buyers from emerging markets, IDC said.

The preference for laptops, which are typically more expensive than desktop models, is helping PC makers weather a decline in average prices, the researcher said. The dollar value of PC shipments will grow 7.4 percent this year to almost US$280 billion, it said.

Unit shipments will grow more than 11 percent in 2009, followed by “high single-digit” percentage growth through 2012, IDC said.

JP Morgan Securities Inc. has a different view. The firm cut its 2008 PC shipment estimate Wednesday to 9.7 percent from 12.2 percent. The shrinking economy will prompt companies to curb spending, and consumers may follow, JP Morgan analysts including New York-based Bill Shope wrote in a note Wednesday.

Unit sales will drop 0.6 percent in the U.S. this year, offset by 16.9 percent growth in the Asia-Pacific region, JP Morgan wrote.

Average PC prices will drop 4.3 percent this year and 5.4 percent in 2009, according to the note.

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