Sales of personal computers (PC) in China grew steadily in 2007, driven by a price war, said a report released on Tuesday.

Last year, 27.94 million desktop PCs, laptops and servers were sold nationwide, up 19.5 percent over the previous year, said China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID) Consulting, a market research company under the Ministry of Information Industry.

Owing to price cuts, sales value, which stood at 147.2 billion yuan (about 20.59 billion U.S. dollars), rose by 12.8 percent.

"Since price-cutting has spread from desktop PCs to laptops, enterprises failed to make more profits," CCID Consulting Chief Executive Officer Li Jun told Xinhua.

Some major brands sold for 4,000 yuan per unit and the average price for laptops fell from 8,000 yuan to 7,000 yuan in 2007, he said.

In 2007, sales volume of laptops jumped 49.5 percent year on year to 6.3 million units, while sales value grew by 33 percent year on year to 50billion yuan, according to the company.

Large price reductions caused many buyers to favor laptops to desktop PCs, particularly in cities and on campus, Li explained.

Li predicted demand from smaller enterprises, families and rural areas would continue to drive China's PC market over the next few years.

According to CCID Consulting, the market's sales value will reach 170.4 billion yuan in 2008 and 263.87 billion yuan in 2012.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2008)