Dell bullish on local PC market

BALI, Indonesia – Despite a slump in global sales last quarter, Dell remains positive on the PC market in the Philippines mainly due to the strong expansion of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

Research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) reported earlier that global PC sales slid 11.8 percent in the second quarter. But in the Philippines, the local PC market did not reflect global trends as sales have been relatively stable, Dell Philippines country manager Christopher Papa said in an interview with The STAR.

“We’re very positive in the outlook as long as Philippine business is concerned,” he said. “The reason for this is the BPO industry is a strong contributor to the PC landscape.”

By 2016, industry analysts have projected the BPO industry to earn $25 billion in revenues and employ 1.3 million people.

Industry reports showed the sector is on track to meet projections after registering an 18.7 percent growth in revenues to $18.9 billion last year. In 2015, the industry targets to close the year with $21.8 billion in revenues.

Papa also took note of the strong activity in other sectors. “We’re seeing all verticals are doing well – like telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, education, healthcare. All those sectors are actually doing well,” he said.

Dell Philippines currently has main two businesses in the country – commercial which caters to enterprises, and consumer-retail. Dell’s commercial business is much larger than the retail business.

With the big opportunities seen in the commercial business, Dell Philippines will deepen its focus on the consumer market through its long list of offerings in PCs, notebooks and tablets.

By 2016, Dell Philippines targets to double its business by tapping into the addressable market of close to 250,000 units, Papa said.

“It’s a huge opportunity for us to pursue. Right now our share in the segment is less than 10 percent based on IDC. So we can afford to double our business by next year,” he noted.