Corporate demand for IT hardware still high in Indonesia

• Nearly US$557mil worth of IT hardware sold in Indonesia’s corporate market in last six months
• Desktop PCs make up the bulk of business purchases in both volume and value:  GfK Indonesia

CORPORATIONS in Indonesia spent around US$557 million on some 1,150,000 units of IT hardware during the six-month period from April to September 2012.
 
According to latest GfK Indonesia results across four major IT product groups – desktop PC, laptop, monitor, and printer – the corporate sector constitutes a substantial 44% and 32% in sales value and volume to the total IT market in the country.
 
GfK Indonesia has been conducting retail audits of technical consumer goods for over two decades. In April 2012, the company also commenced tracking B2B (business-to-business) sales in the IT sector, covering transactions from corporate customers such as the government as well as small and medium businesses.
 
Among the four IT product groups, corporate demand was highest for desktop PCs, which chalked up 460,500 in sales volume worth slightly more than US$300 million during the tracking period, the market research firm said in a statement.
 
Monitors garnered the next highest sales quantity at 425,000 units, although value-wise, the laptop segment was the next biggest revenue generator, garnering more than US$158 million.
 
“Looking at B2B monthly sales during this period, heightened demand was registered towards the end of Quarter 3, attributed mainly to the rollout of government projects and also realization of projects in businesses which had been postponed in August due to the Hari Raya Idul Fitri long holiday,” said Guntur Sanjoyo, general manager of GfK Indonesia.
 
GfK findings during this tracking period reflected a stark difference in preference for computer types between the IT corporate and retail sectors.
 
Indonesia’s end-users in general have a greater tendency to purchase laptops instead, spending close to US$516 million on 1,160,500 laptops. Desktops, on the other hand, constitute a much lower proportion of the overall retail sales value and volume at 14% and 9%.
 
Total revenue sales in the two other IT product categories of monitors and printers were also largely driven by the retail sector, where consumers contributed 49% and 61%, as compared with the corporate sector which were 43% and 34% respectively.
 
“We anticipate heightened demand on the corporate front, which is common during year-end, arising specifically from the government and government linked sectors,” said Sanjoyo.
 
“Looking ahead to 2013, it is estimated that the B2B sector will be inclined to perform well, steered by the positive investment trend in Indonesia’s private sector and the constant flow of projects in the government sector,” he added.