Don't bury the beige box yet, analysts say.

A quick survey around the show floor at PC Expo last week in New York finds gadgets galore. Noticeably absent are major PC makers, such as Compaq Computer, Dell Computer and Micron Electronics. If anything, this year's show is more like the "Gadget Expo," with handhelds and wireless devices drawing large crowds. But Gateway, Hewlett-Packard and IBM have large booths, and IBM has been drawing gawking onlookers with its wearable PC. Will gadgets replace the PC? "No," says Ralph Martino, vice president of strategy and marketing for IBM's personal systems group. "Yes, there's a lot of talk the PC guys didn't show up at PC Expo. Well, we're here. All the excitement may be about these other devices, but those devices need to be managed and need something to provide extended connectivity." Martino is convinced the PC is not going away and says predictions to the contrary are misguided. In a report released earlier this month, eTForecasts predicted that Internet appliances and non-PC devices are the wave of the future. But the Buffalo Grove, Ill. -based research company also concluded that PC sales will explode, in part to support the new devices. The eTForecasts report also predicts that by 2005, 55 percent of Internet users will rely on Web appliances for at least part of their surfing, up from 2 percent this year.