Notebooks continued to drive overall market growth, recording a robust 36.9% growth in 2005. But overall fourth quarter PC sales were weaker than expected with the overall PC market experiencing a decline of 2.9% during the final three months of 2005.
This is according to research firm BMI-TechKnowledge`s recent report, BMI-T SA Personal Computer Quarterly Tracker Q4 2005.
A total of 1 293 892 units of which 927 017 were desktops and 326 953 were notebooks, were shipped. Revenue increased marginally by 0.3% to R9.36 billion compared to the 2004 year, the report says.
The market experienced double-digit growth of 14.1% for the year in all the segments, namely notebooks, desktops and servers showing good growth, the report continues.
"Notebooks continued to drive overall market growth, recording a robust 36.9% growth in 2005," says BMI-T ICT analyst and report author, Hannes Fourie.
Notebook sales were driven by the move towards greater mobility enabled by the advent of connection technology such as 3G GSM networks, WiFi and WiMAX networks, says Fourie.
"The increased ease of connecting through a wireless network most certainly has played a part in driving notebook sales. The price differentiator between notebooks and PCs has also narrowed," he says.
Revenue from local PC sales changed little in 2005 because of increased price competition between vendors coupled with a stronger rand exchange rate, says BMI-T.
Senior BMI-T analyst Laurika Moller says she does not envisage a time when notebooks outnumber the sales of desktops in the market, because many large companies and organisations will continue to need desktops.
"Even in the consumer market the price differentiation between the two, while narrowing, will continue to be a factor leading people to continue buying desktops," she says.
The increased price competition between vendors has also impacted on margins, another reason for the flat revenue growth, says Moller.
Looking forward, Fourie expects the consumer market to remain strong in 2006. "Price declines will continue to stimulate new purchases and renewals - Microsoft Vista should also contribute to market growth in the second half of 2006 while notebook momentum will continue unabated in the small and medium enterprise and consumer market, and competition will not soften."
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