“We have very good specialists, a nation that can easily learn foreign languages and one can develop applications without high costs in this sector,” Netin said on ZF Live.
The Lenovo official added companies in Romania should focus more on original products and applications, on local brands that could then go abroad, considering they mostly do outsourcing at the moment.
“There are many applications we are developing for companies abroad, and fewer companies that make something original.”
The local IT market started the year with a decline on the PC and tablet segments, but saw an increase in smartphone sales, following the trend visible in the neighboring countries last year.
“PC sales dropped 3% in the first quarter and may have gone down 10% in the second quarter, looking at the April trend, unless May and June make up for it. Tablet segment is a bit worse, we’ve got a double-digit decline, 10% to 20% year-on-year, while smartphones saw growth again, of 10% to 20%.”
The varied performance of the three segments is in line with the entire region, as Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Greece and the former Yugoslavian countries posted more than 10% decline last year, while sales in Romania were relatively constant.
The IT market decreased mainly because of the consumer segment, due to a shift in spending from computers to tablets and smartphones. The commercial segment did not offset this decline caused by the consumer segment.
“If public sector investments started, the commercial market would grow, too. There are many projects shelved right now. Any infrastructure project needs PCs.”
Two more factors caused the slowdown of the commercial segment, Aurel Netin thinks. First of all, Windows 10 does not have significant PC requirements, so it does not need a much better PC configuration.
“Many applications still work on Windows 8 and XP and moving them to Windows 10 costs a lot, so many companies are staying with XP.”
Moreover, the processor renewal rate is not as it used to be, “so why upgrade a computer if it still works?” Netin said.
Aurel Netin expects Lenovo sales to stand at 200,000 PCs, 150,000 tablets and 350,000 smartphones in 2016. The company was the tablet market leader in the first quarter.
Lenovo’s strategy is to preserve its market leader position in Romania, boost sales and assess the niches that have a lot of potential: all-in-one, ultra slim, 2in1 convertible and detachable PCs.
The company has recently entered the gaming segment, a very interesting niche, which will see significant development in the coming years.
“The price of a gaming computer starts from EUR2,000. There are gamers who love such computers and have the money to invest in them.”
As for the PC market decline, Aurel Netin puts things in a different perspective, saying the market is actually resettling with the advent of detachables, products bordering on the tablet and PC realms.
“If we look at the two segments, PCs and detachables, we don’t see any decline.”
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)