China''s IT industry experienced a sales growth slowdown in the first quarter, with revenue expansion dropping from 30 percent year-over-year to 16 percent.

China earned $117.6 billion during the three-month period. Profit totaled $1.86 billion, down 7.6 percent compared with the year ago period due to rising costs, lower selling prices and shrinking profits at foreign invested companies.

Cellphones showed the greatest slowdown, with shipment growth dropping from 54.9 percent to 34.9 percent. PC growth slipped from 36.3 percent to 29.3 percent, among which laptop growth was 33.5 percent, down 18 percent, according to the country''s Ministry of Information Industry (MII).

The MII expects a comeback in the second half of this year, with overall full-year growth hitting 20 percent. It is also betting on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing to spur more investment in big IT projects, such as 3G services and digital TV. A push to bring IT to rural areas is also expected to play a small role. -China Daily