New brands to revive PC market in Bulgaria

Just before the Christmas holidays two leading computer makers have declared their plans for the Bulgarian market. Lenovo now offers four new products of its IdeaPad series: from ultraportable to desktop devices. Fujitsu in turn has closed a contract for distribution of its consumer range of products with Vali Computers. This is the second distributor in Bulgaria of the Japanese producer after Polycomp. The move is aimed at expanding the company’s market presence in the mass product segment.
Distribution
We plan to triple our market share in the next few years, Lenovo’s general country manager Radoslav Vodenicharov said. The company’s strategy in Bulgaria is connected mainly with notebooks, where it holds 2.9% of the market, according to third-quarter data. Fujitsu holds 0.6% of the sales of portable computers in Bulgaria, IDC data for Jul-Sep show. Leader in Bulgaria is Acer, which sells 39.2% of all laptops. However, overall laptop sales shrank 16.8% in the third quarter of 2009.
Effect
Lenovo and Fujitsu have been in the consumer segment for quite a long time. I do not expect any big changes, at least not long-term ones, Polycomp manager Nadezhda Genova said. According to Asbis’s regional manager Mitko Topalov, competition is yet to intensify. We can only hope it will be fair competition, he pointed out.
Shrinkage
Hardware distribution is one of the worst hit segments of the IT market, Genova commented. According to different forecasts, computer sales in Bulgaria will shrink up to 30% for the full year. Specialists also differ in the projections for 2010. According to Genova, an increase of 4 to 5% will be a real achievement. The optimistic forecast is for 10% growth but the pessimistic projection is for a 5% drop in sales, Topalov said.

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