IDC Reports Australian PC Market Declines in Q1 But Scheduled for Comeback by End of 2009

IDC predicts a shake-up in the market as lighter, thinner and more affordable notebooks evolve

Sydney, Australia, June 23, 2009 -- The Australian client PC market declined 3% to just under 1.1 million units shipped in the first three months of 2009, according to IDC's Australia PC Market Tracker. A tight economic environment coupled with low business spending drove the overall market down.

“This isn't a surprise given the low business confidence levels of that period. The consumer market was the only area showing positive growth. Retail business is still very positive though, particularly in the notebook form factor,” said Felipe Rego, Associate Analyst, PC Hardware at IDC.

The growth of the notebook market is expected to continue not only because of the mini-notebooks growing above market average but also due to new light and thin notebook platforms expected to help push the market up even further.

“The popularity of mini-notebooks helped avoid a further decline in the overall PC market. However, the new light, thin and affordable notebook platforms that are coming into the market have the potential to contribute to another revolution similar to the mini-notebook one, especially with the expectation of the Windows 7 launch which will make them ideal Christmas gifts,” added Rego.

The Australian PC Market closed with 12% growth in 2008 over 2007. In 2009, the expectation is that the market will continue to see positive growth, although much lower than previous years. The current trend shows the Australian client PC market growing by 1% in 2009 over 2008 as the economy slowly starts to recover.

IDC’s 1Q’09 Australia Quarterly PC Tracker also revealed that

* Hewlett-Packard continues to be market leader with 20% market share, followed by Dell and Acer with 17% and 12%, respectively.
* The commercial market segments, including Education and Government segments contracted by 12% over the same period of 2008.
* Overall PC prices have increased by 4.7% over the same period of 2008 even with a strong growth in mini-notebooks which normally cost 60% less than the average PC.

Source: IDC