Tablets, smartphones pile pressure on PCs

IDC Vietnam's market analyst Phan Thi Hoang Yen says PC suppliers and their distributors are now facing stockpiles of unsold PCs due to the weak demand.

While distributors and retailers have cut prices and introduced new models like the Ultra Slim laptop, people still seem to prefer tablets and smartphones.

"In 2013, the price of Ultra Slim models will need to decrease further in order to compete with attractively priced tablets and smartphones," she says.

The economic recession was also blamed for the weak PC sales.

"Vietnam's ongoing credit crunch has left most small and medium-sized businesses and even large enterprises with financial difficulties, which could impact IT spending in 2013," says Daniel Pang, ASEAN research manager for client devices at IDC Asia/Pacific.

According to IDC's calculations, ASUS retained its lead in the market with a 17.8 percent market share, reinforced by strong channel support and aggressive end user promotions.

Meanwhile, Dell stayed in second place, with 15 percent, as it pushed more shipments into both consumer and commercial channels.

Acer was third with 10.2 percent, while HP fell one position to fourth with 9.1 percent.

Although HP maintained its good performance in the commercial space, it continued to suffer in the consumer arena.

Lenovo remained in fifth position, with 6.2 percent of market share, after bringing in more low-cost consumer notebooks to meet current market demand.

The printer and multifunction peripherals (MFP) market continued to grow, gaining 32.2 percent compared with the previous quarter.

The growth mainly came from the strength of laser technology shipments, which increased by 45 percent quarter on quarter (QoQ).

Total laser technology shipments accounted for 77 percent of the total market in Vietnam, while inkjet products made up 23 percent and grew by only 2 percent compared to the quarter before.