THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Malaysian PC shipments down 6% in Q4 2016

Malaysian PC shipments down 6% in Q4 2016

The latest International Data Corporation Quarterly Personal Computers Tracker report has found that total PC shipments in Malaysia in the fourth quarter of 2016 reached 482,506 units, 6.2 per cent lower than the same quarter in 2015.



The slowdown was driven by a significant decline in the commercial segment, which posted an alarming minus 10.5 per cent year-over-year drop, while the consumer market weakened by 4.1 per cent YoY.
It is not surprising that the PC market shrank in 2016, given the challenges Malaysia faced in the second half of 2016, which ranged from supply chain setbacks, inventory issues, to an unfavourable economic climate. 
“The currency depreciation in the last six months inevitably affected PC sell-in shipments in Malaysia,” said Feras Ibrahim, senior market analyst for client devices, IDC Asia-Pacific. “As a result, shipments in the commercial segment dropped significantly and in parallel, retail experienced a slow sell-out, leaving some inventory piled up for the new year,” heads.
In terms of product categories, the notebook market outperformed desktops in 2016. Notebooks continued to have a dominant market share in both product categories, related procurements for several small public and enterprise projects, helped the notebook market maintain at least a flat (-0.5%) YoY performance. 
On the other hand, the desktop PC market in Malaysia dropped 13.7 per cent compared to last year, mainly affected by longer PC refresh cycles despite fresh deliveries of shipments to the commercial space. 
As expected, the desktop market suffered in both the consumer and commercial segments as more end users gravitated toward mobile devices, namely, notebook PCs.
Last year was a challenging year for the Malaysian IT landscape. The government implemented the goods and services tax), the local currency devaluated, and vendors such as Toshiba exited the market. 
In 2017, the PC market is expected to decline 8.1 per cent, with the first quat=rter this year expected to drop as much as 11.1 per cent compared to the same period last year. The next general elections, expected to be held mid-2017, will also have an impact on the PC market. 
“The elections will bring anxiety to the market due to its unpredictable outcome. Commercial end users will withhold PC purchases until the elections are settled," Ibrahim said. “But there is an upside to this challenge as major vendors and influencers are continuously innovating, and bringing great products to the market, such as ultraslim notebook devices, convertible notebooks, and gaming PCs.” 
These form factors are expected to drive volume and sales. 
Additionally, PC gaming in Malaysia is showing signs of hope and will continue to be one of the highest revenue-generating products within the PC category.

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