The FINANCIAL — Desktop computers are more in demand than laptops in Georgia, according to IT retailers interviewed by The FINANCIAL last week. The average share of desktop computers sold by retailers is 70% and the rest is occupied by laptops.
“Laptops and desktop computers have different fortes,” says David Beridze, Manager of Alliance Computers Technology. “Before buying a computer, people should determine what they need it for exactly. Organizations and companies would less buy more desktop computers than laptops. That’s why our corporate clients in general choose desktop computers rather than laptops, but in terms of retail sales, whereas we sold 10% of laptops in the past, we now sell 40% of them,” Beridze revealed.
“Desktop computers are most in demand at the moment at our company stores. Desktop computers occupy 70% of our computer sales,” Irakli Tedoradze, Deputy Commercial Director of Aray Tomorrow, told The FINANCIAL.
According to George Kachidze, Sales Manager of the Retail Department of computer software selling company Algorithm, desktop computers are better sold at their company whereas laptops only occupy 20% of computer sales at Algorithm.
The personal computer industry was first created with the desktop computer.
Laptops were originally considered to be “a small niche market” and were thought suitable mostly for “specialized field applications” such as “the military, the Internal Revenue Service, accountants and sales representatives”. But today, there are already more laptops than desktops in businesses, and laptops are becoming obligatory for student use and more popular for general use. According to Wikipedia, in 2008 more laptops than desktops were sold in the US.
As the personal computer became feasible in the early 1970s, the idea of a portable personal computer followed. A “personal, portable information manipulator” was imagined by Alan Kay at Xerox PARC in 1968 and described in his 1972 paper as the “Dynabook”.
The IBM SCAMP project (Special Computer APL Machine Portable), was demonstrated in 1973. This prototype was based on the PALM processor (Put All Logic in Microcode).
The IBM 5100, the first commercially available portable computer, appeared in September 1975, and was based on the SCAMP prototype.
According to David Beridze, laptops are very flexible in terms of usage; you can take them wherever you want. You can work on the computer in bed, in the kitchen; take it on holiday with you. Wireless internet gives you the extra opportunity to work on your computer truly wherever you want. However if you want to do several actions together using different programmes on your computer and with the highest quality, then you might prefer to choose a desktop computer.
“Laptops are very compact. It’s easy to take them anywhere you want and still work on them. I would advise our clients to buy laptops, because the price is very low taking in to account their quality and in general our clients agree with that,” says Irakli Tedoradze.
“The minimum price at our company for a desktop computer is GEL 700 and the maximum is GEL 4,200, while minimum prices for laptops start from GEL 730 and go up to 4,900. We have 1 year guarantees on our computers,” George Khachidze says.
According to Beridze from Alliance Computers Technology, the minimum price for a desktop computer at their company is USD 400 and minimum price for laptops is USD 520.
“Demand for computers in 2008 dramatically decreased and the first quarter of 2009 was the same. The period of financial instability over the past year appeared to be just as worrisome for our customers as during August 2008. At the moment there has been no regress in our sales of computers and we do expect progress. Until the banking system starts launching favourable consumer loans again our retail sales will not raise considerably. 90% of our retail sales were with the help of bank loans, so it’s easy to guess how loans help consumers buy different technology,” says Beridze.
“We sold 11,000 LG and Toshiba desktop computers and 2,800 laptops by the same brands in 2009,” George Khachidze told The FINANCIAL.
“We sold about 800 computers this year, out of which 300 were laptops. I would say that in choosing a computer to purchase the segment the customer works for is relevant. For example most of our corporate clients prefer to buy desktop computers,” says Beridze.
Alliance Computers Technology offers IBM, HP and Acer branded products.
According to Beridze if a person travels very often, he should have a laptop. But if someone needs a more functional computer, then desktop computers are more useful.
“The choice between a laptop or desktop computer is determined by the demands of the consumer. If someone wants to work on web design or just prefers to play different games it’s better to choose a desktop computer, but for performing office activities laptops are a better choice,” says George Khachidze.
Nearly all of the above mentioned company representatives interviewed by The FINANCIAL, declare that they often offer discounts to their consumers and for the new year, with the help of promo prices, people will be able to buy computers at cheaper prices.
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