Portables market projected to grow 14.5% says IDC
IDC forecasts that shipments of portables will reach 140,000 units in New Zealand by 2007, representing a growth of
14.5% CAGR from 2002, where unit shipments for portables were 71,237.
Portable PCs made up 19.6% of the total PC market during 2002, compared to 16.9% in 2001. This proportion is expected to
continue to grow throughout the forecast period to 27% in 2007.
“The personal computer market in New Zealand predominantly consists of replacement purchasing. Y2K replacement cycles
are expected to commence during 2003, however rather than a single spike as was once expected, shipments are likely to
be staggered throughout the year, continuing even into 2004. Increasingly, corporates are tightening their IT budgets
and will spend only on the major necessities.“ says Sonja Olsson, Senior Hardware Analyst, IDC New Zealand.
IDC expects corporates will increasingly choose to replace aging desktops with notebooks, particularly as pricing drops
and the gap in power and functionality between a desktop and a portable PC shrinks. Mobility is becoming a key focus for
many corporates, as it allows them to offer a flexible lifestyle to employees.
“In the increasingly saturated consumer PC market, the portables market also offers opportunities to vendors who play in
this area. The next stage in the maturity of the consumer PC market is the transition towards mobile computing. Many
home users now have experience in purchasing a desktop PC - which could be considered the most complex household
appliance available and feel comfortable with technical specifications and the
differences between brands. Over the same period, price has decreased and performance has increased exponentially,
providing second-time PC buyers with more justification for purchasing a portable PC.”
Note: IDC defines the overall PC market as being made up of the following: Desktop PC’s Portable PC’s Standard Intel
Architecture Servers (