Australian PC market grew 6% year-on-year and 3% sequentially in the first quarter of 2011 to reach approximately 1.5 million units, according to IDC.
The research firm said that the desktop market registered a downward trend despite increased uptake of all-in-one desktops by consumers. This happened due to the continues shift towards mobile computing, said IDC.
The research firm said that demand for mini-notebooks dropped by 30% over the same period last year given competition from media tablets, declining notebook prices and increased interest in 11-inch screen size notebooks in the education space.
The glitch in Intel’s Sandy Bridge resulted in delays of new product refreshes, however, vendors and channel partners were able to recover promptly and opted for 1st generation Core-i systems or AMD systems as alternatives, said IDC.
Apple and Toshiba outperformed the market with double digit sequential growth respectively.
Toshiba recovered from a disappointing performance last year by driving an aggressive 40% price discount on all Toshiba notebook brands exclusively in Harvey Norman stores nationwide.
Apple consistently gained market share since third quarter of 2010, fueled by strong demand for its Macbook Air and Macbook Pro range in addition to its growing retail presence through its Apple stores.
IDC analyst Amy Cheah said that there was a slight pickup in SMB spending driven mainly by businesses and channel partners looking to replace damaged or lost PCs as recovery efforts from the Queensland flood crisis took place.
"A stronger push into the channels from vendors such as Toshiba and Acer in anticipation of the end of financial year tax rush further contributed to the growth," Cheah said.
"The halo effect of the success of the iPod which further progressed to the iPhone and iPad is now proving to be a strong driver behind Apple’s growing market share."
"It has been instrumental in building a vast installed base of Apple users accustomed to the Apple experience, which ultimately worked in favour of Apple’s Mac range. Interestingly, its influential force in end users’ purchasing decisions may have long been underestimated by other vendors."
