"Retailers were conservative in placing orders as they responded to weak back-to-school sales," Mikako Kitagawa, an analyst at Gartner, said in a statement. "By the end of September, retailers were focused on clearing out inventory in advance of the Windows 8 launch later this month."

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at , on or subscribe to . Her email address is .

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