Momentum in Thailand’s PC Market to Lose Steam, IDC Reports

According to IDC’s Asia/Pacific Quarterly PC Tracker, Thailand’s PC market continued to gain traction in 3Q 2011 with an impressive 33% growth over the same period last year.

Better than expected consumer spending and demand from enterprises and government agencies helped push the market, resulting in the expansion of both the portable PC and desktop PC markets.

Since the beginning of 2011, Thailand's PC market has expanded at a very fast pace, reaching over 1 million quarterly unit shipments in both 2Q and 3Q. However, IDC believes that the momentum has been severely disrupted by the recent flooding across several parts of the country.

Not only will the market slow down significantly in the last quarter of 2011, but the negative impact is likely to persist throughout the first half of 2012.

“Aggressive vendor strategies to increase domestic consumer demand paid off during the first half of 3Q. However, in light of the slumping global economy as well as the widespread flooding, consumer sentiment deteriorated rapidly as the quarter progressed ,” said Jarit Sidhu, Associate Market Analyst for Client Devices Research at IDC Thailand.

“On the commercial front, increasing demand from the enterprise space and the public sector was able to help drive healthy growth. Firms continued making IT investments, although these sentiments also weakened considerably towards the end of 3Q due to bleak economic news coming out of the West.”

IDC’s updated forecasts show that Thailand’s PC market in 4Q 2011 is likely to post a double-digit decline compared to last year. HDD supply shortages will severely hinder growth throughout the first two quarters of 2012.

Accordingly, prices of PCs may increase in the short term with Whitebox (DIY PCs) and Mini Notebooks feeling the greatest impact.

It is not all doom and gloom. IDC expects the market to bounce back in 2Q 2012 and reach full recovery in the latter half of the year.

---