Thai PC market hit hard by hard-disk shortage

PC market in Thailand was badly affected  by the aftermath of severe flooding in the country last year which caused hard-disk drive (HDD) shortage as well as infrastructure damage, according to IDC.

In a statement Monday, the research firm reported that the Thai PC market in the fourth quarter dropped 40 percent sequentially, and 14 percent year-on-year, due to disruptions to hard-disk drive supplies brought about by the Thai floods in 2011.

Jarit Sidhu, associate market analyst for client devices research at IDC Thailand, said in the report: "The consumer market was heavily impacted by the severe floods. Apart from the drop in demand, supplies were heavily constrained throughout the quarter and vendors struggled to bring stocks into Thailand."

In addition to the shortage of HDD supplies, the local market was further impacted by limited access to outlying cities affected by the floods, which lead to further decline in the PC consumer segment, Sidhu noted.

The floods also affected the enterprise PC segment as verticals such as automotive and manufacturing attempted to salvage their business.

IDC expects demand for PCs in Thailand to "bounce back" in 2012 due to post-flood rebuilding work. However, the research firm noted that supply constraints would continue to affect PC shipments in coming quarters.

In separate reports, IDC also noted that the floods and subsequent HDD shortage had affected fourth-quarter numbers in the PC markets of Malaysia and the Phillipines. Malaysia saw a "marginal" 2 percent sequential growth, while PC shipment in the Philippines dropped 33 percent sequentially to 334,000 units.