“In all, the PC market shrank by 1% to 3% compared with last year, and in terms of value we are seeing about 2% to 3% growth,” Ciprian Donciu, country manager and business development manager with Asus Romania and Hungary, told ZF.
“Things are slightly different when it comes to business and consumer laptops. We are seeing slight growth on the business segment and rather significant decline of about 10% on the consumer segment. The downward trend of the number of units is offset by the rise in the value of the products,” he said.
Most customers are at their second or third device purchased, and they know very well what they are looking for, so they no longer want the cheapest product but one that meets their productivity needs, the official added.
Aurel Netin, country manager of the local subsidiary of Chinese giant Lenovo, the leader of the local computer market, had previously told ZF that computer sales would stagnate at some 700,000 units in Romania in 2019, largely driven by the business segment, which offset the decline in demand from the consumer segment.
Asus Romania’s boss says that the company kept is leading position on the consumer segment, with more than 30% market share, but sales may be flat at 2018 level, $135 million, due to industry trends.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)