PC market picks up in Q1

Computer sales are set to bounce back in the first quarter of this year, anticipates Acer, the biggest player on the domestic market, which expects computer deliveries to double in the first quarter from the same period of last year.

"We estimate a result of at least 100% above that of Q1, 2009," Bogdan Iftemie, Acer sales manager, told ZF.

Demand will come from the consumer segment and sales in fact improved in the last quarter of 2009, when figures topped estimates, says Iftemie.

On the contrary, Asus, the second largest player on the PC market, projects an increase of just 5-10% for the first quarter. "We expect the first quarter of this year to reach the level of the corresponding period of 2009, maybe even somewhat higher, by 5-10%. Though it hasn't improved significantly, the economic situation is more stable and entitles us to moderate optimism. We hope the current context can generate this increase in the first quarter and then during the entire year," Mihai Carstea, Business Development Manager with Asus Romania and Bulgaria told ZF.

Romania's PC market in 2009 dropped by more than 55% in terms of the number of units sold, to around 500,000 PCs, in line with data provided by International Data Corporation. The market was rescued by the rebound of the fourth quarter, when computer sales almost equalled the level reached in the first nine months, namely more than 200,000 units. The Romanian PC market is valued at 200 million euros annually.

In 2008, the Romanian PC market had reached a level of 1.08 million units, with a value exceeding 940 million dollars.

Bogdan Iftemie estimated laptops and netbooks accounted for almost 70% of total units sold in Romania in 2009. Worldwide, 306 million computers were sold last year, according to research company Gartner.

Iftemie expects the biggest orders to come from consumers and companies, and not from the public sector this year.