Q3 PC Sales Heated Up, Led by StudentsStudents were the major driving force behind the growth of desktop PC (personal computer) sales in the third quarter as many bought PCs during the two-month summer holidays and fattened the wallets of PC vendors, analysts said.More than 2 million PCs (including desktops, notebooks and servers) were sold in the July to September, which is 21 per cent higher than the previous quarter. Over 90 per cent of the 2 million units sold in the quarter were desktop PCs of which students made up most sales, according to statistics from International Data Corp (IDC) released on November 24. The long summer holidays and buzzling promotion plans in the third quarter attracted both students and their parents. "Although desktops, notebooks and PC servers all grew in the period, desktop PC played the most significant role in fuelling growth," said Lily Lin, market analyst with the research house. "Demand from students fuelled the growth engine," Lin added. Desktop PCs reported a 23.4 per cent growth compared with the previous quarter but growth of notebooks and PC servers could be only called steady with growth of 9.3 per cent and 5.4 per cent. Compared with desktop PCs, notebooks are still a little out of reach of most domestic consumers with a price over 10,000 yuan (US$1,207). China's top PC vendor Legend Group is far ahead of its competitors and enjoyed a controlling 30.7 per cent market share during the period. Home brands controlled seven seats in the top 10 list with only IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Acer as third, fifth and sixth in the market. Tongfang, which is produced by a Qinghua University-based company, astonishingly rushed onto the top 10 list as ninth. Thriving consumer desktop sales are expected to largely drive the stellar performance expected over the course of the full year, according to the IDC. "With government's supporting efforts to promote PC ownership in China, demand will continue to accelerate," the research house said. The dramatic proliferation of low-cost PCs, the popularity of the Internet and price/performance values are driving changes beyond traditional methods of selling. While still in their infancy, new business models provide great flexibility that can enable vendors to take advantage of multiple opportunities and drive PC demand to a larger scope of customers. The strong performance of local personal computer vendors like Legend and Great Wall has sent warning signals to international competitors that they face resistance in the market, said IDC. PC Sales to Reach 6 Million UnitsChina's booming personal computer market is set to sell a record 6 million plus units this year with high sales growth reported during the first three quarters, an official report said recently.In the period from July to September more than 2.53 million units of PCs (including desktops, notebooks and servers) were sold on the domestic market, almost matching the 2.8 million units sold in the first six months of the year, latest market statistics showed. Source: chinadaily.com.cn |
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