Australian PC market slips further, as tablets cannibalize desktops and notebooksDemand for desktops and notebooks dropped 6% during Q3, IDC said today, as demand for big PC’s slumps again, cannibalized by tablets.
By contrast, the NZ PC demand is alive and kicking – growing 21% in Q3.
The slump locally was blamed on tough business conditions and September Federal election, which suppressed public sector IT spending.
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Currency depreciation on the Aussie dollar increased prices and squeezed retail margins, also didn’t help.
Consumers usually withhold on PC purchases prior to Christmas, but IDC analyst Amy Cheah expects Q4 to see an uplift.
However, quarter-on-quarter, the all-important Christmas quarter is still forecast to be down compared to 2012.
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The mature PC market is “highly saturated” says Cheah, admitting outlook for the PC market is “depressing,” with a downward forecast for PC demand until 2017. However, consumers are still spending on computers – but it’s tablets and 2-in-1’s like Asus Transformer tablets.
HP is still the No.1 PC vendor on 23%, but Toshiba too was a big winner in Q3.
Apple didn’t gain much up just 1%, while Dell and Acer fell during the third quarter.
The average person now owns 2-3 computing devices.
There has been “substantial growth” in 2-in-1 markets like for tablets and notebook combis, says Cheah.
“As the tablet market matures, we think the 2-in-1 market will grow”, doubling as a companion and productivity device.
956,000 PC’s were shipped in the last quarter, down under.
