PC makers expect surge in demand for laptops post lockdown
PC makers expect demand for laptops to rise even after the covid-19 lockdowns are lifted as they anticipate the work-from-home culture to last for at least a short-term. Besides, the companies will now focus more on the online channels, since offline retail will take time to return to normalcy.
Arnold Su, Business Head, Consumer and Gaming PC, System Business Group, Asus India, said that while demand from enterprises will rise due to work from home needs, consumer demand could also increase for "study from home" needs. The lockdowns have also forced colleges and schools to adopt e-learning practices, which can only happen if students are equipped with laptops and PCs.
"On the commercial side of the business, it is a bit of a dichotomy as there's fresh demand for laptops to make people work from home from large export-oriented software companies, consulting companies who have got huge manpower back offices etc. But a whole lot of mid-sized commercial organizations aren't working right now," said Rahul Agarwal, Managing Director, Lenovo India.
Agarwal anticipates that the demand for desktops will fall post-lockdown. However, he believes it might be too early for the company to estimate whether its product mix needs to be reconfigured.
Asus' Su, on the other hand, said the company will be ramping up supplies of enterprise class products in future, without compromising on the supply for regular consumer products.
According to Adwait Mardikar, Research Analyst at Canalys, the first quarter of 2020 saw increased demand from enterprises, but lockdowns in China affected supplies. Now though, things in China are closer to normal and companies have been able to manage supplies. They will be able to manage a surge in demand after May 4. Mardikar said a small surge in the demand for notebooks is expected from enterprise customers post lockdowns.
Su also said that since people staying at home has led to an increase in those playing games, casual gaming laptops could also see an increase. Su said that while the high end machines that are specially made for gaming may not see much change in demand, machines that can be used for both working from home and also some gaming could see an increase in demand.
While the government may allow the sale of laptops, computers and mobile phones, companies expect offline retail to remain hamstrung for the time being. Asus' Su said that while he's unsure how much the increase will be, online businesses should see growth at least for the first few months after the lockdowns.
However, Su said that traditional dealer shops and the shopping experience should remain important. He said the omni-channel retailers, who have both online and offline platforms, will be interesting to watch as they can capitalise on both the segments. Single-brand retail stores could also capitalise by selling products online.
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