Recent price cuts, new corporate upgrades and improved laptop performance led to growth in PC sales that could make this the best year for the computer industry since 1996, analysts said.

With corporate PC and memory sales expected to get a boost from the rollout of Microsoft's new Windows 2000 operating system, leading PC makers Dell, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard are also benefiting as the continued growth of the Internet fuels sales of high-end servers.

A full report is posted online at www.zdnn.com.