PC market to slow in 06: IDC

PC hardware sales in Australia will slow down this year, forcing resellers to re-evaluate their product portfolios and think long term, according to IDC senior analyst Michael Sager.

IDC’s Sager told CRN that over the past three years, the PC hardware market has seen double digit growth which he expected to slow down in 2006 as Australian companies completed hardware refreshes.

“Aside from dual-core [technology] and [Microsoft’s] Vista operating system, there is a no major killer application. The economy is slowing down, GDP is shaving off a few percentage points every year and plus there is too much competition here,” he said.

He predicted that notebook sales would be strong, but PC sales slower and resellers would need to respond by being smarter. “They’re going to have to think a lot more long term,” he said.

Meanwhile, IDC figures released on Tuesday indicated that 1,014,000 desktop and notebook units were shipped in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) in calendar Q4, 2005.

Around 893,000 units were shipped in Australia during the quarter, up from 875,000 in Q3 while in New Zealand 121,000 units were shipped, down from 142,000 in Q3.

The introduction of sub-NZ$1000 notebooks in New Zealand in Q3 affected the sell-through in Q4 resulting in the unit sales drop, Sager said.

In ANZ, HP grabbed the number one position with an 18.4 percent share of the market in Q4, while Dell was second with 15.4 percent and Acer third with 11.2 percent.

In Australia, HP took the top spot with a 16.5 percent share and Dell was second with 15.7 percent, Sager said. “Dell was the closest they have ever been to the top spot in recent history,” Sager said.

This was due to contracts HP was competing for being pushed to the first quarter of this year, he said. Product shipment delays also affected the result, he said.