Computer makers will find that notebook sales will remain a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy, SARS-hit market, said a Taiwan-based market research firm.
Balancing dampened consumer demand caused by the SARS panic will be sustained corporate buying and demand fuelled by notebook component price cuts, said Market Intelligence Center (MIC).
"Most notebook PCs are sold in the corporate market, the necessity for businesses to carry on operations will sustain growth of notebook PC sales, shielding notebook PC shipments from the impact of SARS seen in the Chinese desktop PC market," said the report.
Intel is expected to slash prices of its wireless-capable Centrino chipset this June, helping to spur demand later in the year, said MIC.
This will help third-quarter shipments this year to surge ahead in Greater China (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan), beating second-quarter results by up to 15 percent. Overall, consumer panic will cause the PC market to shrink up to 20 percent in the short term, but most of the drop will be in desktops. Factory disruptions caused by the quarantines have also not hurt supply much, despite China having 60 percent of all factories owned by Taiwan PC makers, added MIC.
A study done by IT research firm IDC has also found that the outbreak will hit consumer spending on PCs hard.
But the growing spending power of China's coastal and provincial cities will temper the downturn in overall IT spending in Beijing.
"The Beijing region, whilst important, is far from being the dominant part of demand for IT nowadays," said the IDC report. However, the capital city still wields some influence over buying decisions made in other cities, especially in the government and education sectors, it added.
"Vendors should not focus only on how slow is the market now, but prepare for the market pick-up. It is quite likely that the recovery will be rapid, and preparation for marketing and promotional plans should be underway," advised the report.
China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are ranked first, second and third respectively in number of deaths caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). According to figures from the World Health Organization, China has had 5,124 cases and 267 deaths. Hong Kong has had 1,698 cases and 227 deaths, while Taiwan has had 238 cases and 30 deaths.
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