The South African PC market experienced a 31.6% growth from the last quarter and a 34.8% increase year-on-year, according to BMI-TechKnowledge`s latest figures for the local PC market for the first quarter of 2006.
"We expected far slower growth," says Hannes Fourie, PC analyst at BMI-T.
The surge has been driven by increased sales in the desktop and notebook market, which recorded 31.4% and 40.5% growth respectively, Fourie says.
"The small and medium business (SMB) market is hot right now," Fourie says. Desktops and notebook sales increased by 20% in the SMB sector and will continue to grow, he predicts. "The SMB space will be a big factor in PC sales over the next few years."
Notebooks and desktops remain a major focus for all vendors across both consumer and business channels, Fourie says.
Looking forward, he says: "PC prices are falling. The PC technology market is becoming cheaper. This is due to aggressive pricing and marketing. More importantly, our economy is currently very strong and, in rand value, prices are dropping."
He adds that, from a US perspective, prices remain almost flat.
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