Recovery has sparked the PC market in Australia, with 2010 shipments expected to reach more than 5.3 million, up 13.5 per cent over 2009, according to market research firm Gartner.
That compares with the 0.3 per cent growth rate experienced in 2009, Gartner says in its latest market update.
And for a change the business sector is expected to account for most of the growth, as enterprises begin ordering replacements for ageing PCs after having held off purchases for the past 18 months.
The Australian growth rate will outstrip the overall Asia-Pacific rate of 12.5 per cent. By 2014, Gartner predicts annual sales of 6.49 million PCs in Australia – more than half of them mobile PCs
Overall Gartner forecasts Asia-Pacific desk-based PC unit shipments will increase 9.9 per cent to 61.4 million units in 2010, largely driven by the success of a rural PC program in China, where 70 per cent to 80 per cent of PCs shipped are desk-based PCs. In other markets it will be driven by the replacement of aged desk-based PCs.
A decrease in average selling prices will be moderate due to rising component prices as suppliers try to catch up with the sudden surge in worldwide demand.
Looking to general trends, analyst says mobile PC growth will continue to be strong as more desk-based PCs are replaced by laptops. She predicts the professional market for desk-based PCs will grow slightly in 2010 and 2011 and then begin decreasing.
Desktops will remain popular with gamers and home customers looking for flexibility in configuration and performance.
Demand for netbooks – which Gartner calls mini-notebooks – will taper off from 2010 under competition from mobile PCs and devices like the iPad, but will remain attractive to students. Gartner does not count tablets in its PC figures.
The report, Forecast Analysis: PCs, Asia/Pacific, June 2010 Update, is now available from Gartner.
