Notebook sales hard to predict?

Local notebook sales have been under pressure during the past two years of the worldwide credit crunch, with a leading notebook retailer saying sales during 2010 will be higher than 2009 – but not as high as 2008.

“It is hard to make predictions,” said Christopher Riley, MD of The Notebook Company (www.notebook.co.za), “but last year was certainly a tough one. “Our sales were 30% down on 2008, but we expect an uptick during 2010 as we emerge slowly from the recession.”

Meanwhile, according to a report by analyst firm, IDC, the worldwide PC shipments market returned to positive growth in the third quarter of 2009, with an increase of 2.3% after three consecutive quarters of decline.

The report also showed that consumer portables remained the key driver, with shipments increasing 33.5% from a year ago. Consumer desktop demand, meanwhile, remained weak as the market continued its move towards mobility.

IDC went on to say that mini notebooks rose by 37% over the previous quarter, with the share of mini notebook of consumer portables lifting to 28% from 14% a year ago. Additionally, the drop-off of commercial PCs also started to slow down in the third quarter, showing signs of increasing IT spend.

Meanwhile, The Notebook Company’s Riley said that business sentiment in SA has improved during the fourth quarter of 2009 and in early 2010. ‘I don’t think we are going to see a bull run, though. Any sustainable improvement in South Africa will be slow in coming and many industry pundits say it will be a W shaped recovery and not a U shaped one. But, despite the bubbles being expected in the economy I certainly think notebook sales are going to improve this year. We are anticipating a 10-20% improvement from 2009 at The Notebook Company.”