Latin America PC Market Is on the Road to Recovery------------->
with Forecasted Unit Growth of 8.5% for 1999
Drew:
Guess the doom and gloom predicted for Latin America on account Brazil didn't materialize either.
============================
- Recently Published Research Results Presented at the IDC Latin America Breakfast Briefing Held in Miami
MIAMI, June 3, 1999 - According to International Data Corporation's (IDC's) Latin American Quarterly PC Market Tracker, the outlook for the Brazilian PC market is not as bleak as had been anticipated. This bodes well for the Latin America region since the currency crisis experienced in Brazil remained fairly contained and unlike the Mexican peso crisis of 1995 did not ripple throughout the entire region, IDC reported at a recent breakfast briefing titled, Tracking the Impact of a Devalued Real on the Latin America PC Markets.
Regional desktop and notebook PC shipments in Q1 1999 grew 1.5% versus 1998 despite a major devaluation of the Brazilian Real. IDC now expects unit growth of 8.5% for 1999. Regional desktop and notebook PC shipments were 854,700 for the first quarter of 1999. This shipment growth of 1.5% from Q1 1998 was an improvement on the projected decline of 5.5%.
"The devaluation of the Real did not curtail demand to the extent we expected," said Alexandra Martinez, research analyst for IDC Latin America. "The business segments in particular continued to make purchases, and most of the large bids that were pending were concluded as planned. Moving forward, we expect to see growth fueled by the continued offerings of low-cost systems, investments for Y2K preparedness, and a reactivation of the consumer market as well as investment from stronger segments such as telecommunications, banking, and oil."
Mexico outpaced projections with shipments up 19% versus a projected increase of 7%. In Argentina and Venezuela, PC shipments were expected to decline, but were roughly flat relative to a year ago. In Chile shipments met forecast with roughly a 4% decline, and Colombia was below forecast declining 10%. Brazil's PC shipments were down only 10% versus the initial forecast decline of 18%. Demand seemed to show signs of recovery somewhat toward the end of the quarter. The positive results in the region's largest markets suggest a relatively rapid recovery from the Real devaluation and other economic challenges facing the region. While some political uncertainty remains, a brighter economic outlook potentially coupled with improving oil prices could return regional growth to double digits sooner than expected.
(Courtesy:IDG) |
