IDC: 92,000 laptops sold last year, twice more than in 2004

The total number of PCs (desktop computers, laptops and servers) sold last year on the Romanian market grew by 38.5% against 2004, to some 500,000 units, with brands launched by local companies dominating the upper end of the ranking, as four out of the top five players were Romanian companies, according to a survey conducted by the IDC research company.

Flamingo Computers sold the largest number of PCs on the local market (11.6% of the total number of units), with the company being closely followed by HP with an 11.3% share, and K-Tech (Ultra Pro) with a 10.9% share of the number of units sold on the market. Complet Electro Serv (Altex”s PC division, which sells Davio-branded computers) and Romsoft (Depozitul de Calculatoare), ranked 4th and 5th with sales accounting for a 9.8% share and 9.1% share respectively.

“With a few exceptions, such as HP”s very strong growth, mainly due to the projects it managed last year, the top 5 computer suppliers have stayed the same, which means the local PC market is no longer as fragmented as it was 5 years ago, with certain local brands starting to make a name for themselves on the market,” Laurentiu Popescu, Branch Manager of IDC Romania told ZF.

As for the value of the PCs sold last year, the top five players on the local market differ to a certain extent from those in the ranking based on the number of units sold, with the top spots being filled by two multinational companies.

HP is the market leader, with a 16.8% share of the total value of the PCs sold in Romania last year, followed by Fujitsu Siemens, with a 10.8% share. The remainder of the top five was made up of Flamingo Computers (9.7%), K-Tech (7.2%) and Romsoft (6.8%).

In terms of expenditure, the local PC market grew by 31.3% against 2004. Expenditure made by small and middle-sized enterprises, big and very big companies accounted for almost 50% (48.1%) of the total value of PCs sold last year in Romania. Individual users and small entrepreneurs account for 37.7% of the total sum spent the PC market last year. Computer purchasing programmes in the education system accounted for 11.4% of the market value. Most PCs were delivered to individual users and small entrepreneurs (49.5% of sales), while SMEs, as well as big and very big companies got 35.5% of the total number of units delivered. Laurentiu Popescu added that about 92,000 notebooks were sold last year, an almost 100% growth on 2004. According to him, the significant growth on the notebook segment began three years ago.