PC/hardware market to show 15% growth

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PC/hardware market to show 15% growth 
The Nation: 16 Dec 2010
COMPUTER SALES
IT hardware market to show 15% growth
By Jirapan Boonnoon
The Nation

Vendors say 2010 not a bad year, despite all

Thailand's market for information technology (IT) hardware, including desktop and laptop computers, has continued to grow this year despite economic and political problems that prompted customers to set aside the purchase of new products.

The associate director of Acer Computer's Consumer Product Management Division, Boonchai Ngouvisitkul, predicted that the overall computer market in 2010 would show growth of about 15 per cent.

Global market research firm IDC has estimated that sales of desktop PCs and notebooks in Thailand will reach 1.4 million units and 1.7 million units respectively this year, supporting Boonchai's growth forecast of about 15 per cent.

IDC says Acer held a 26-per-cent share of this overall computer market in the third quarter of 2010. Acer was leader of the notebook market, with a 35-per-cent share, and held 14 per cent of the desktop market.

Acer is aiming to lift its overall market share to 28 per cent.

"I think there was a hiccup in the overall IT market this year because of the political situation, which led to consumer hesitation to purchase," Boonchai said. "However with confidence in the brand, Acer has not been badly affected. Our desktop sales in the commercial market have grown by as much as 28 per cent, while growth in the consumer market is smaller."

He said home users were paying greater attention to "all-in-one" PC products, or "multi-function" desktops that could do anything from surfing the Internet to watching movies, listening to songs or events or watching TV programmes, while all the time appearing as pleasant decorative items in the home.

DCom Group's managing director Vikorn Vivitkunaporn said the total PC market in Thailand in 2010 would reach 1.2 million to 1.5 million units. Of these, between 800,000 and 1.2 million units would be original-equipment manufacture or do-it-yourself computers, while international PC brands would account for 300,000 to 500,000 units.

The general manager of Hewlett-Packard (Thailand)'s Personal Systems Group, Prasert Charoonpaisal, said the Thai IT market had continued to grow this year despite many issues that affected broader consumer sentiment.

The Thai economy had been seriously impacted by political issues, resulting in slower market growth as well as decreasing consumer-purchasing intent. However, proactive marketing plans, including promotions and various activities that began in the middle of the year had created confidence and this had led to market recovery.

"HP believes that the way to serve consumers is to offer them differentiated options with distinct value propositions based on different usage patterns. This guides their purchase decisions and ensures that they get their 'HP PC experience'," Prasert said.

However, the company also introduced high-end PC products last week to support hardcore users, such as gamers and high-end users.

"We believe that computer technology will help reshape the way we feel, connect and communicate with each other. The mobile market opportunity is tremendous, yet complex. Today, the value in mobility lies beyond portability. Consumers tell us that their mobile-computing devices are central to their digital-entertainment experience - whether it's watching TV, creating and sharing digital media, or staying connected to family and friends. Our next-generation notebooks will connect consumers to the world around them," Prasert said.

Dell Corporation (Thailand)'s managing director Anothai Wettayakorn - whose territory also covers Indochina - said Dell's revenue grew by 19 per cent in the three months that ended on October 30. It was up by 21 per cent for the year to date.

All in all, 2010 has been a positive year for Dell, he said. Its revenue in Asia Pacific and Japan grew by 29 per cent, led by India with a 55-per-cent increase.

"We deliver innovative solutions to customers the way they want them - in business-ready configurations or via cloud-as-a-service," Anothai said. "The firm is also focusing on the customer by leveraging the millions of conversations it has with them every day, allowing Dell to target and tailor its offerings to specific groups who are looking for technology solutions, like gamers and families."

He said the company had entered new areas and new markets - going where the next billion online users were. It had expanded beyond the direct Dell.com model, and mobility was also a big bet in 2010.

Dell is also refreshing its consumer-product line-up with new high-performance notebooks, tablets, smart phones and the Inspiron Duo convertible tablet. It is reshaping its product portfolio to offer stylish, innovative and high-performance products that appeal to a broad range of customers, he said.

Acer's Boonchai said the hardware market next year would see new technologies that included performance, speed and graphics. Both Intel and AMD will announce new technology platforms to support PCs and laptops.

Meanwhile, new gadgets such as tablet computers and smart phones will ignite market excitement as e-book and e-magazine contents increase in Thailand, despite fact that 3G technology is not yet fully deployed.

He said Acer would also introduce new products and advanced technologies such as longer-lasting batteries and more eye-catching designs.

"We anticipate more intense competition, especially from the growth of 'second computer' demand. Users will want more mobile computers and the devices will have to be social-network ready," Boonchai said.

Hewlett-Packard's Prasert said his company expected continued market growth next year, because there would always be demand for PCs, especially those that respond well to consumers' ever-changing lifestyles.

Meanwhile, tablet computers will grab the attention of enterprises that are focused on specific verticals and need applications to conduct targeted business functions.

"The IT market in Thailand will show continuous growth, especially in the commercial segment. IDC expects that the overall IT market will continue to grow at a rate of 10 to 15 per cent in 2011," he said.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/12/16/technology/IT-hardware-market-to-show-15-growth-30144539.html