PC market on the rise

According to the IDC EMEA PC Tracker, Hewlett-Packard (HP) achieved 66.5% year-on-year growth in the same period. The vendor now holds a 22.2% share of the local PC market.

“The latest market share figures show that HP has the correct formula to deliver what consumers and businesses need. We make sure that what we do, we do well,” said Paul Boshoff, Country Manager of HP's Personal Systems Group.

Mobility becomes mainstream

A key trend that is driving the exponential growth in the local PC market is mobility. The notebook market is growing at a much faster rate than desktops, with more than 160,000 units sold in the second quarter of this year.

“HP has identified mobility as a key strategic growth area for the company. The value in mobility today is beyond portability – it is in making connections. For both home and business users, it is ultimately about connecting people to people,” said Boshoff.

The continued expansion of the HP Pavilion Entertainment PC range means that HP is also able to deliver the right products for the growing digital lifestyle trend.

Desktops not dead

According to Boshoff, although the desktop market is not growing at the same rate as notebooks, there will always be a need for such products. Industries where market demand is growing include the financial services sector, as well as Government departments.

“Desktops remain an important part of HP's PC business globally and locally HP has seen consistent growth in the desktop market,” said Boshoff.

In 2002, HP invested in establishing a local desktop assembly plant. Through HP's Advanced Local Configuration (ALC) programme, Matomo Technologies assembles affordable desktop PCs for the local enterprise market.

Since the inception of the ALC programme, close to 400,000 HP desktop PCs have rolled off Matomo Technologies' assembly lines.

Growing demand

HP last week released its third quarter financial results. According to the company's latest financial results, Personal Systems Group (PSG) revenue grew 29% year-over-year to US$8.9 billion, with unit shipments up 33% on a year-over-year basis. These results bring PSG's year-to-date revenue growth to nearly US$5 billion. Notebook revenue grew 54% over the prior-year period, while desktop revenue grew 12%. Commercial client revenue grew 19% year-over-year, while consumer client revenue increased 46%. HP was also recently voted South Africa's top IT brand in the business-to-business category of the acclaimed Sunday Times/Markinor Top Brands Survey 2007.