Elections and World Cup prompt PC sales drop in Brazil

PC sales have seen a sharp decline in Brazil during the second quarter of 2014, according to new numbers released by analyst IDC.

The sales decline of 26 percent in comparison to the same period in 2013 was caused by the upcoming presidential elections and a current purchasing slowdown within the public sector, as well as the World Cup — because consumer spending was mainly focused on televisions during the second quarter. 

Conversely, PC sales in the country have seen an increase of 8 percent in comparison to the first quarter of 2014, according to the analyst.

"Among consumers, there is the World Cup factor, while the corporate market is always more cautious when making investments in election years, especially within medium and large businesses. Moreover, there is a drastic decrease in public sector procurement, with the delivery of projects within existing contracts, and few new tenders being launched," says Pedro Hagge, market analyst at IDC Brazil.

During the second quarter, some 2.65 million PCs were sold in Brazil. Out of that number, 62 percent were notebooks and 38 percent were desktops.

Overall, IDC predicts that PC sales in Brazil will see an overall drop of 24 percent in 2014 — the sharpest decline to date and a lot worse than the 10 percent decline the analyst had previously predicted for the country in December last year.

Meanwhile, sales of mobile devices continue to grow: separate research by IDC points to a 21 percent increase in sales of tablets in the first six months of 2014 in comparison to the same period last year. Smartphone sales in Brazil have also gone up, with a 22 percent increase seen during the second quarter of 2014, says IDC.

Updated at 6:15pm ET: to amend percentages of desktops and notebooks sold in the second quarter of 2014.