PC sector knocked offline

The International Data Company (IDC) Vietnam report in the first half of this year stressed the slow sales and imports of PCs in the domestic market.

However, PC imports and local production in Vietnam took a slow step to recovery in 2010’s second quarter with growth increasing by 6.6 per cent against the first quarter, making a year-on-year increase of 12 per cent in 2010’s first half.

During the first half of this year, there were around 462,400 imported and locally assembled PCs in the market, of which 59 per cent were desktops and the remainder laptops. The growth rate of desktop imports and local production was only 1 per cent, while the laptop figure was 33 per cent.

However, the laptop segment is expected to continue growing against desktop figures in the coming quarters due to the slow demand from individuals and government-funded projects.

“The market still fears slow growth due to risks from the Vietnamese dong’s devaluation in the coming time, [making laptops and PCs price higher],” said Yen Phan, a market specialist from IDC Vietnam.

Smaller figures for the desktop segment stemmed from decreased consumption in the individual customers by 5.4 per cent in the second quarter against the first quarter. The decrease also stretched to corporate sectors as small- and medium-sized enterprises cooled and government agencies slowed their funding disbursement.

Regarding laptops, Dell surpassed HP for the first time to lead the market, holding a 11 per cent market share while HP with large stockpiles held a 10.5 per cent market share. Acer and Lenovo ranked the third and the fourth.

The HP stockpiles were estimated to be enough for its main distributors in the second half of this year. For instance, CMC Distribution did not import during the past three months, FPT Distribution for the past four months and Digital World for the past six months.

Tran Duc Trung, retail manager of Dell Vietnam, said Dell imports focused on the VND10-14 million ($526-736) segment which had been hot in the first half of this year. “In the gloomy market, first-hand buyers are limited while the buyers of second laptops become the main force to push the market grow,” said Trung.

IDC Vietnam reported that Vietnam had around 433,900 PC imports and local production, of which 68 per cent were desktops and 30 per cent was laptop computers in the first quarter of this year. The company predicted that the PC import growth in the second quarter was not high but it would be in the last quarter when PC producers and distributors chase for a full year target, making a full-year market growth rate of around 19 per cent this year realistic. – VIR

Tags: Vietnam PC market, Vietnam PC sector