PC sales gather pace in Brazil
The Brazilian PC market has shown signs of recovery in the first quarter of 2017 after five consecutive years of decline, says analyst firm IDC.
Between January and March, 1.1 million machines were sold, 5 percent more compared to the same period of 2016. Of that total, 405,000 units were desktops and 701,000 notebooks.
Consumer products account for 65 percent of the total sales recorded during the first quarter. Corporate shipments represent 35 percent of all computers sold, or 340,000 units.
"The growth rates are modest, but this increase shows that the Brazilian market is stabilizing. The improvement was due to the end of the dollar oscillations, the promotions by retailers to encourage purchasing and a confidence increase within the corporate segment," says IDC Brazil analyst Pedro Hagge.
"In a mature market like PCs, growth, even if it's small, is very important, especially because there is a strong competition with tablets and, particularly mobile phones," the analyst adds.
In terms of spend, the average ticket for PCs in Q1 was R$2,141 ($647), 22 percent less than the first quarter of 2016, according to IDC.
"The Brazilian consumer is very sensitive to price and the fall of more than R$600 ($181) in computers was a turning point for the market to grow again," adds Hagge.
For 2017, IDC Brasil expects stability, with 4.5 million PCs sold during the entire year, of which 1.6 million units are predicted to be desktops and 2.9 million notebooks, up 1.2 percent over the year 2016, and revenues of R$9,6 billion ($2,9 billion).