The current credit crunch and Microsoft Vista's well-publicised high hardware requirements are apparently two of the many reasons why second hand PCs with Windows XP are selling like hot buns.
A report published by Research Firm Gartner shows that customers from Emerging countries are willing to pay for used computers but only 44 percent of computers that are entering the so-called secondary market end up becoming someone's else "main" machine.
In addition, the market for refurbished PCs is often more profitable than for new PCs but there may also be, to some extent, the fear that obsolete technology is being dumped in emerging countries.
Gartner listed shipping costs and taxes as potential barriers that prevent old kit from moving to old emerging markets with North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia being the largest exporters of used PCs and MEA and South East Asia undergoing the fastest growth in demand for these second hand computers.
However, the fact that Windows XP is still in great demand (due to widespread compatibility, platform maturity and relative frugality when it comes to hardware resources) might also explain why a number of PCs equipped with the OS are simply reused rather than disposed of.
Furthermore, Gartner also underlined the fact that amongst the 197 million or so PCs that were made redundant in 2007, a significant proportion ends up loaded with piracy as they still carry the original certificate of authenticity stuck outside their casings.
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