Bangkok--16 Apr--IDC
The total yearly shipments in the Thailand PC market in 2013 experienced a double-digit decline for the first time in the last 14 years, with demand for both notebooks and desktops dipping drastically.
According to IDC Asia/Pacific Quarterly PC Tracker, the Thailand market shipped only 3 million units in 2013, 20% lower than that shipped in 2012.
“2013 started with a weak consumer demand for PCs due to increasing distractions from tablets and smartphones,” says Jarit Sidhu, Senior Market Analyst for Client Devices Research at IDC Thailand.
Jarit explains that as the year progressed, sluggish economy, high household debt, and political uprising further deteriorated consumer spending.
“Many small businesses decided to adopt defensive measures and scale down investments because of the contraction in the domestic economy and exports.”
He adds that one upside to this scenario was public sector spending, although affected by parliament dissolution, was still in a relatively healthy state compared to other segments as the government drove initiatives to boost technology adoption in line with the ‘Smart Thailand’ master plan.
“Enterprise investment also remained sound with companies in financial services, manufacturing and telecommunications being the key spenders,” says Sidhu.
IDC predicts that the PC market will continue to decline in 2014 as the political turmoil and widespread street protests will hinder PC demand during the first half of the year. According to IDC’s latest forecasts, Thailand PC shipments in 2014 are expected to have an 8% annual decline.
“The market has been resilient to political crises and natural calamities in the past years but seeing the PC market performance in the last quarter of 2013 suggests that Thailand is no longer immune to shocks.”
Despite the slowdown in the first half of the 2014, IDC expects there will be pent-up demand in both consumer and commercial market once the crisis is resolved.