Australia's PC market declined by 18 percent in the last quarter of 2000, reflecting a general slowdown in overall economic activity and a loss of consumer confidence, according the preliminary findings of a report by Gartner's Dataquest.
Furthermore, to add to the decline the traditional boost in Christmas buying did not materialise, according to analyst Andy Woo.
Woo said the cautious buying environment over the quarter was a result of several factors: continuing exchange rate fluctuation, negative reports of the US market, the lingering effects of the Olympics on the Australian market, and ever-rising petrol prices.
However, "the downturn will in effect benefit end users in the short term as vendors will need to slash prices further to clear excess inventories. Consumers can therefore expect some bargains during the first quarter of 2001," Woo said.
Compaq had the greatest market share of desk-based and mobile PC's in the period, followed by IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Apple and Toshiba.
The biggest drop was recorded by Dell.
The report forecasts positive growth in the PC market for 2001, with small and medium size businesses and the home market driving this growth forward.
"In addition, Windows 2000 and emerging technologies such as bluetooth applications are expected to drive upgrades and the replacement cycle. Vendors will need to concentrate on streamlining their business processes during these times," Woo said.
The growth potential for Asia Pacific is seen as "very strong" despite the longer-term effects of the Asian economic crisis from 1997 to 1998.
"The consumer penetration rate in [the region] as a whole is very low - approximately two percent - so there exists a lot of opportunity for growth in countries such as China."
