Singapore Traditional PC Market Remains Dynamic, Despite a Decline in Shipments in Q1

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The traditional PC shipments in Singapore showed a mild decline by 2.1% year-over-year (YoY) growth, with a total number of 243,000 units of PCs shipped into the market in Q12017 based on IDC’s latest Asia Pacific Quarterly PC tracker. The rise in demand for mobile devices reflected a weak market performance for desktop PC product categories. The desktop PC product categories witnessed a decline of 23.7% YoY growth in Q1, however, the notebook PC market recorded a healthy incline of 5.1% YoY growth.

The range of activities such as the increase in gaming PC demand, occurring IT trade show and commercial fulfilments were the determinants that stabilized the PC market throughout Q1. The increase in the momentum of the market was driven by commercial fulfillment within the government sector as well as the public sector, which outperformed the rest of the market, with shipment deliveries to the IDA/GovTech agency.

Multiple companies participated in this project and Chromebooks were also amongst the deliveries. In the consumer space, the desire to own desktop PCs decrease in demand because the end-users no longer see advantages in a stationary device. Besides the existence of notebook PCs, high-performing smartphones and tablets in the market are believed to have become a practical option. The only area for the sustenance of the consumer market to be attracted to the desktop demand is for gaming purpose.

“Initially the market was affected negatively by shortage of PC components which led to the hike in average selling price of the overall PC products. As much as the overall PC market is shrinking, the occurrence of multiple events in the first quarter was a resistance for the market from further declining. These contributing factors were seen across the commercial and consumer segments as well,’’ said Feras Ibrahim, Senior Analyst – AP Client Devices

Ibrahim continued “After the first quarter, we predict that Q2 will continue to experience versatile market dynamics. IDC expects the market to remain stagnant with 4.8% YoY growth decline. Similar to Q1, we foresee the PC market to be stimulated by IT trade shows, newly established retail channel outlets, as well as ongoing planned deliveries to the government and banking sectors.”

Competition in the gaming space is increasing and we have seen a new local player, Dreamcore, entering the market recently with their customizable smallest gaming desktop in the market. Additionally, competition is expected to heat up due to AMD’s newly launched CPU known as Ryzen, that is positioned as one of the high-performing CPU which will be a direct threat to Intel CPU’s which are expected to ship in Q22017.

Gaming PCs will continue to be one of the highest revenue generating products within the Traditional PC market. Hence, multinational companies are expected to keep their focus on gaming PCs. The second half of 2017 is expected to plunge compared to the first half of 2017. The deliveries to the education sector and other sectors could potentially contribute to stronger shipments.

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About IDC 

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company.