Records tumble as NZ PC market witnesses "astonishing" year

The New Zealand PC market observed an "astonishing year" in 2014 as shipments grew to 774,400 units, with HP again extending its market share across the country.

Based on IDC's Asia/Pacific Quarterly PC Tracker, the fourth quarter alone contributed 218,000 units resulting in a year over year (YOY) growth of 15.9% exceeding IDC’s forecast by 3.6%.

“This is the strongest year the New Zealand PC market has ever seen in its history,” says Arunachalam Muthiah, Market Analyst, IDC.

“Growth and strong demand in the consumer segment during 2014 was driven by three big factors: strong uptake of entry level notebooks, saturation of the tablet market, and aggressive promotions by retailers.

"In the commercial space, XP migration stimulated substantial expansion in the first half of the year but the second half was propelled by growth of chromebooks and ultrasmall form factor desktops."

IDC has forecast 2015 to be another strong year for the PC market with factors that played a role in 2014 – particularly entry level notebooks and chromebooks - expected to continue to have a positive impact in the current year.

Vendor Highlights

As reported exclusively by Reseller News, HP again grew its market share quarter on quarter and occupied 43% of the market in 4Q2014.

Acer was the second biggest vendor with 19% share and was followed by Apple at 12% while there was very close competition between Dell, Lenovo, and Toshiba for the fourth place with Dell eventually winning the coveted spot.