Computers: more personal and less familiar

With the pandemic, the computer went from a family device to a personal tool. Demand is skyrocketing and manufacturers are experiencing one of their best moments

.This is the market of one of the few sectors that will end the year 2020 on the rise.

Following the toilet paper craze that started the pandemic, consumers have experienced several spikes in demand for different products (there were times when Chocoramo, Nutella, rice and even eggs were in short supply).

However, all these mass consumer items once again filled the supermarket shelves.

Other products, whose demand is skyrocketing, have yet to serve all buyers, leading to shortages and price increases. In that group are bicycles and computers, which today are experiencing a boom thanks to teleworking and virtual education.

According to the market intelligence firm IDC, in the first half of 2020, Colombians bought 621,000 personal computers (PCs) in the country, compared to 533,000 a year ago. “Usually, the technology sector grows two or three times more than the GDP. 

We were coming from a rhythm of 8% or 9% per year until last year and this trend is likely to continue. This implies that, if the country contracts in 2020, this market would end up with positive figures, maybe no longer 9%, but growing, something that few sectors will achieve this year ”, says Carlos Villate, IDC Colombia manager.

Technological Market

His estimate is based on the analysis of a technological market resentful to the lower demand from companies, but driven by that of homes, home logistics, dispatch routes and isolation protocols. Germán Hernández, consumer sales manager at HP, adds that at the beginning of 2020 they expected a similar year in sales to 2019, but fortunately they are growing by 19%, both in desktop computers and laptops.

Likewise, Santiago Holguín, Lenovo's manager in Colombia, comments that its third quarter sales grew 60% in value and 70% in units. They have benefited from both online and department store sales.

Without VAT

Precisely, in the days of e-commerce discounts, and even in the two days without VAT, computers have been among the most requested products. This, despite the fact that the best sellers do not pay value added tax and, therefore, they were not cheaper on those dates (those worth up to 50 UVT are exempt, today $ 1,780,350).

In fact, the premise of "the higher the demand, the higher the price" has been met here. The prices of computers have not fallen this year, although they have not increased the 15% that the exchange rate has risen in 2020, despite the fact that they are mostly imported.

Computers are available from $ 900,000, but the best sellers are in the price range between $ 1.4 million and $ 1.5 million. However, buyers have become more sophisticated and a growing group is willing to purchase higher specification computers, requiring a good machine to video conferencing and work with the same capabilities they had in the office.

Although computer prices have not dropped this year, they have not increased more than 15% over the exchange rate in 2020.

Hugo Beleño, Asus country manager, points out that Colombians are changing their perception of the value of computers and that makes them willing to pay. This has led to a higher level of exhaustion, both in the country and in the rest of the world, due to delays in transport and in Chinese factories, which have not been able to produce at the pace demanded by consumers.

Expectation

However, manufacturers are catching up with their offer and preparing for December, which together with the start of the school year have traditionally been the ones that imply higher sales for this sector. This year, the best month has been May.

"The consumer evolved and is now more aware of the need for technology and access to information and platforms for work, learning and entertainment from home. Likewise, the market evolved with the consumer and now the message is no longer that of a “PC per family or home”, but that of a “PC for each person at home”, says Holguín, from Lenovo.

Under this premise, it is very likely that 50% of the country's households already have at least one computer, a figure that until 2018 had not been reached.

Final Words

Nightshade points out that for the penetration of computers to continue growing, it is also necessary to increase Internet access. It is estimated that in the country, 30% of the population is not connected to the network of networks.