March 4, 2004, 8:30 AM PST
By John G. Spooner
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Retail computer sales have gotten off to a relatively good start this year.

Overall, PC unit sales in the United States rose 23 percent year over year in January, according to market researcher NPD Techworld. Breaking down the data shows that desktop PC unit sales rose 17 percent year over year, while notebooks unit sales rose 36 percent.

Notebook sales have been booming at retail, thanks to buyers who have been replacing their aging desktops with laptops. As a result, desktop replacement notebooks, which are designed to replicate desktop performance with large screens and fast processors, have been selling particularly well, especially with first-time notebook buyers.

"Notebooks (unit sales) are right in line seasonally, and the desktops did a little bit better" than seasonal expectations, said Steve Baker, an analyst with NPD.

For its part, January not only produced a year-over-year gain in units, but also saw a sequential increase in average selling prices, Baker said.

The average selling price for a notebook was $1,370 during January. It was slightly lower on a year-over-year basis--January 2003’s average selling price was $1,380--but it increased noticeably from December 2003’s $1,334, Baker said. This means that people stepped up to more expensive machines in January.

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