THE personal computer market in the Philippines may fall sharply in the coming quarters because of the severe floods in Bangkok, according to International Data Corp.
“IDC is expecting a significant decline in the Philippines PC market in the upcoming quarter due to the current HDD crisis stemming from the severe Thailand floods,” said Ng Juan Jin, market analyst for Client Devices Research at IDC Asean.

Hard disk drives are key components of PCs. IDC recorded an increase of PC shipments of 498,000 units in the third quarter.

It attributed the uptrend to the portables segment, which grew 13 percent from the previous quarter, even as desktop shipments remained stagnant at 189,000 units.

Major PC vendors posted better mini-notebook shipments as consumers responded positively to further price reductions, with some as low as P9,999.

Channel expansion and inventory loading also boosted overall shipments, IDC said.
It said price-sensitivity is still a major characteristic of the local retail market.

“The popularity of mini-notebooks is evidence of end users prioritizing affordability over more advanced specifications. The surge in shipments indicates that first time users are content with the functionality of mini-notebooks,” Juan Jin said.

Given the relatively low adoption rate of PCs and the large low-income segment in the Philippines, there is still growth potential for mini-notebooks provided prices remain low relative to other competing IT devices, Juan-Jin said.

Sequential and year-on-year growth rates for mini-notebooks are at 29 percent and 36 percent, respectively.

“AMD’s new processors are also increasingly popular among MNCs that are looking to diversify their model lineup while keeping prices low,” Juan Jin said.

IDC said overall public sector spending was still weak, bogged down by a significant decline in the education segment as the government held off on approving large-scale projects.

Business process outsourcing companies maintained their IT spending levels in the third quarter, helping stave off an even steeper decline in the commercial market.

Overall enterprise spending, including small and medium enterprises, remained flat over the previous quarter.