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Dollar rise hurts tablet sales in Brazil

Sales of the devices have seen a 20 percent drop in the first quarter of 2015 and will continue to decrease, says IDC
Written by Angelica Mari, Contributing Writer

Tablet sales have collapsed by 20 percent in the first three months of the year in Brazil, according to research released by IDC today.

The drop in sales is mainly due to the weaker exchange rate between the Brazilian real and US dollar, but the current credit squeeze and a drop in consumer confidence also influenced the poor sales performance, the analyst firm says.

According to IDC Brazil analyst Pedro Hagge, the dollar hike meant there was a price increase of up to 17 percent to the final consumer compared to the fourth quarter of 2014.

Between January and March, some 1,780 tablets were sold in Brazil - 390,000 units less than in the first quarter of 2014. IDC had predicted that 2 million devices would be sold during over the period.

"The number is below the predictions for the period. But given the Brazilian economic scenario, the result was positive," says Hagge.

"The trend is that prices will continue to rise and sales will continue to fall," the analyst points out, adding that other factors prompting the sales drop is the reduced interest of consumers in tablets due to negative user experiences and the rise of phablets.

Some 94 percent of tablets were sold to final consumers and the remainder to businesses. Of all tablets sold in Brazil in the first quarter, 70 percent cost less than R$500 ($160).

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