Ireland’s PC market beat expectations by growing 13.3pc year-on-year for the first quarter of 2004, preliminary data from IDC has revealed.
The industry watcher had previously forecast a rise of less than 12pc but the latest figures have exceeded this. For the whole of last year, the Irish PC market grew by 12.4pc.
Desktop shipments have grown 6.3pc year-on-year. As has been the trend for several quarters, notebooks have been the star performers in growth terms, with shipments rising 39.3pc year-on-year. Intel-based server systems also saw good growth of 26pc year-on-year.
According to IDC’s analysis, an improvement in corporate renewals has helped sustain desktop growth. Ageing PC infrastructure originally bought between three and four years ago is now up for a refresh. “Corporate renewals have been slow over the last year or so as large businesses have sought to stretch PC lifecycles, but an uplift in activity has been seen here in Q1,” commented IDC research analyst Ian Gibbs.
“New year sales have to some extent assisted consumer shipments in both the notebook and desktop markets,” he added. Business notebook growth continues to be driven more by small and medium businesses than by large corporations, a development that was already in evidence last year.
The preliminary figures are subject to change but IDC does not expect them to differ much. Next week IDC will release its full Q1 data for Ireland, with consumer and commercial market information as well as manufacturer market share.
By Gordon Smith