FRAMINGHAM, MA – A pair of research firms have upped their PC outlooks for 2008 on continued demand for laptops.

IDC, the more optimistic of the two, said shipments would rise 15.2% year-over-year. That's up from the research firm's March forecast of 12.8%.

Meanwhile, Gartner raised its forecast to 12.5% growth, up from 10.9% in March.

IDC also revised its shipment forecast to 310 million units this year, up from 269 million last year. The firm predicts laptop growth of 35% over 2007. Gartner believes 264 million units were shipped last year. Gartner and IDC use different methods to model shipments.