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Interesting article regarding the PC consumer market sentiments. Note that this refers pretty much to retail only!
PC Purchasing Plans Hit Lowest Level Of Year (11/13/97; 3:45 p.m. EST)
By Aaron Ricadela, Computer Retail Week
Consumer demand for home computers declined last week, and purchasing plans hit their lowest level of the year, according to the most recent weekly survey of purchasing behavior conducted on behalf of the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association and Computer Retail Week.
Home computer purchasing fell by more than one-third of a percentage point to 0.58 percent of households reporting a purchase in the past 30 days, according to the telephone survey of 2,426 households conducted by The Verity Group, in Fullerton, Calif., for the week ended Nov. 7. The 39-week average purchasing level is 0.8 percent.
Yet first-time buyers reached their highest level since June 13. Of households reporting a computer purchase, 64.29 percent described themselves as first-time buyers, compared with a 39-week average level of 35.9 percent. For the week ended June 13, first-time buyers accounted for 64.91 percent of demand. Replacement-PC purchases accounted for only 7.14 percent demand, compared with a 39-week average of 31.6 percent. Households reporting an additional PC purchase composed 21.43 percent of the total, compared with an average level of 30.2 percent.
Tony Violanti, vice president of marketing at Computer Town, in Salem, N.H., said PC sales have fallen off since late summer as consumers delay holiday purchases in search of deals. "Christmas keeps coming later and later," Violanti said. But Intel's recent price cuts should provide consumers more attractive pricing in weeks to come, he said.
Macintosh sales spiked last week, driven by publicity surrounding Apple's new line of G3 PowerPC-based computers and the rollout of an online store, Violanti said.
Purchasing plans fell below 1 percent for the first time in the 39 weeks of the survey, as 0.99 percent of households last week said they were very likely to buy a home computer in the next six months. The 39-week average is 1.9 percent. Household PC penetration held at 42 percent for the second consecutive week, nudging the 25-week average up to 40.9 percent.
Meanwhile, demand for consumer electronics was mostly lower. Color TV purchasing in the 30 days preceding the survey declined to 0.99 percent, compared with 1.42 percent in the prior week and a 39-week average of 1.2 percent. Households that said they were very likely to buy a color TV in the next six months outpaced their average, at 1.78 percent.
VCR purchasing fell to 0.49 percent reporting they'd bought in the past 30 days. The 39-week average is 0.7 percent. Plans to buy were virtually unchanged from their average. Camcorder demand was almost unchanged from its average, at 0.21 percent of households reporting a purchase. Plans to buy were lower.
Copyright (c) CMP Media, 1997.
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