LOS ANGELES (09/01/2000) - Although analysts have been predicting lower PC market growth worldwide, Latin America is bucking that downward trend, according to forecasts released Friday by International Data Corp. (IDC). The market research company foresees an increase in PC shipments in Latin America over the course of this year.
Desktop and notebook shipments to Latin America will set record-breaking growth rates reaching an annual rate of 30 percent by the end of this year, according to IDC. The annual growth rate for shipments in 1999 was 18 percent and growth rates will stay in the order of 20 percent for the next three years, Alexandra Martinez, a PC analyst for IDC Latin America unit, said.
Argentina, Brazil and México are all expected to show increases in computer shipments of over 35 percent during the rest of this year.
The notebook market will remain strong during the remainder of 2000 with an annual growth rate of 50 percent as compared to 1999, IDC said. The largest markets in Latin America, Argentina, Brazil and México, will experience the fastest growth rates in the region, of 80 percent, 54 percent and 50 percent, respectively, Martinez said.
During the second quarter of this year, Argentina, Chile and México were the leaders in notebook shipments in the region, each registering an increase of over 90 percent in shipments, according to IDC.
Although Compaq Computer Corp. retained its position as PC market leader in Latin America with a 20 percent share, the vendor must improve its channel relations, since resellers are "heard to be unhappy about low margins and strict terms of trade," Jay Gumbiner, a PC analyst with IDC's Latin America research unit, said in an IDC statement.
The more aggressive marketing policies of most of the major PC makers, including the setting up of direct vendor channels and lower pricepoints, have adversely affected local distributors both monetarily and in terms of their third-party relationships, IDC's Martínez. said. Local distributors have therefore had to look for other ways to sustain their income by providing services such as technical support or installation of computers.
IDC is owned by International Data Group Inc., the parent company of IDG News Service.
IDC, in Framingham, Massachusetts, can be reached at 1-508-872-8200 or at http://www.idc.com/. IDC Latin America, in Miami, can be reached at +1-305-267-2616 or at http://www.idc.com/.