Inflation and weak demand weigh on local PC market
PERSONAL computer (PC) shipments to the Philippines continued to decline in the third quarter of the year due to weak demand and inflationary effects, according to International Data Corp. (IDC).
“PC shipments… continued to slump, declining 19.8% year over year and 11% quarter over quarter, reaching 565,000 units in the third quarter,” IDC said in a recent analysis, citing its Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.
It said that desktop shipments posted annual growth of 7.6% due to the “knock-on effects” of companies returning to physical work after strict mobility restrictions.
“On the flip side, notebook shipments recorded a year-on-year decline of 29.5% caused by the weakened demand from market saturation and inflation effects on the average buyer,” IDC noted.
At the same time, the market intelligence company noted that the “$600<$1,000 price band” remained the most popular price point for four consecutive quarters.
It declined by only 0.5% year on year “given its optimal price-to-performance ratio in which the top PC makers are maintaining affordability while offering sleeker designs with greater processing capabilities and a wider selection of available models,” IDC said.
For the third quarter, the top five PC companies in the Philippines in terms of market share are Acer Group (22.9%), Lenovo (19.8%), HP, Inc. (13.5%), ASUS (12.4%), and Dell Technologies (8.7%).
IDC also said the upcoming holiday season may become challenging for vendors as the demand for technological products dampens.
“Consumer spending priorities will be shifting to other goods and services, such as traveling, dining out, and recreation, while the commercial space will weaken due to seasonality and uncertainty in the government sector’s deployment of large-scale national projects, which will lower the expectations of shipment arrivals for the fourth quarter of 2022,” the market intelligence company added. — Arjay L. Balinbin
