However, the PC market will not be able to reach the pre-crisis volumes, when it stood at more than one million units, the local representatives of the US-held Dell, one of the leading PC makers in the world, believe.
“Growth expectations of the PC market are connected with the performance of the country’s economy. We, the vendors, expect to see an impact on the IT&C market,” Valentin Nicolaie, Dell distribution manager for Romania, Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova, said.
“If there is economic growth, we expect the IT&C segment to grow, as well. It is very hard to estimate how much it will grow but it is important to have growth instead of stagnation or decline.”
The PC market stood at almost 550,000 units in January-September 2015, following an increase in sales in the first quarter and then gradual decline. GDP growth stood at 3.7% in January-September 2015, and is expected to reach 4% for the entire year.
“The local [PC] market in 2015 was the same as in 2014 (in terms of volume i.e.) and Dell grew in Romania. It will consolidate growth and presence according to its strategy for the region,” Nicolaie said, adding that the full-year market data were not available yet.
PC sales stood at 780,000 in Romania in 2014, 28% more than the previous year. They have yet to reach the pre-2009 volumes, as the economic crisis caused a decline of more than 50%.
“If the country’s economy follows this upward trend, it may reach the pre-crisis level in one or two years,” the local Dell representative said.
The US company is now among the top five PC vendors in Romania, with an about 10% market share. Number one on the market is Lenovo, the same as worldwide.
“We don’t have the official results yet, but mostly likely our market share is about 10%. It was a challenging year but we ended it very well,” Valentin Nicolaie said.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)