Sales of personal computers in China grew steadily in 2006,
prompting the outbreak of a price war, according to CCID (China
Center for Information Industry Development) Consulting, a market
research company under the Ministry of Information Industry.
Last year 23.37 million desktop PCs, laptops and servers were
sold nationwide, up 17.5 percent on the previous year. But owing to
price cuts, their sales value, which stood at 130.4 billion yuan
(US$16.7 billion), only rose by 7.7 percent.
"Since price-cutting is the main method of competition in the
desktop PC business, enterprises failed to make more profits," CCID
Consulting CEO Li Jun told Xinhua on Wednesday.
The price war was even fiercer in the laptop market. Some major
brands sold for lower than 5,000 yuan (US$641) per unit, Li
said.
Large price reductions caused many buyers to favour notebooks to
desktop PCs, particularly in cities and on campus.
Li predicted that demand from smaller enterprises, families and
rural areas would continue to drive China's PC market over the next
few years.
According to CCID Consulting, the market's sales value will
reach 220 billion yuan (US$28.2 billion) in 2011.
(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2007)