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Confidence
of Channel Partners in PC resale dip
IDC’s
Channel Panel found that partners involved in the resale of
PCs continue to report lower confidence in their business
in the fourth quarter of 2008 (4Q08). The Channel Panel results
have shown a steady downward trend in partner confidence for
the past few quarters across all technology segments, as the
economic environment worsens.
In 4Q08, the PC segment offered a concise view of what partners
are reporting in all segments:
Partners said their business was decreasing more rapidly in
4Q08 than in 3Q08.
Small partners were hit the hardest and said their business
was decreasing more than large and midsised partners.
Midsised and large partners, which had previously been a bright
spot in the segment, both struggled in 4Q08.
“Partner confidence across all technologies tracked in
IDC’s Channel Panel fell sharply between Q3 and Q4 2008
as the weakened economy continues to affect IT buying decisions,”
said John Grady, research analyst for Hardware Channels at
IDC. “In the PC segment even Apple partners, who had
reported very strong results for the previous three quarters,
were more bearish in Q4.”
Key vendor highlights for the fourth quarter of 2008 include
the following:
Apple was again in the best position relative to other vendors
overall, but large Apple partners were weak.
Dell and HP saw similar results overall, but Dell was stronger
among large partners and HP was stronger among midsised partners.
IDC’s Channel Panel is a quarterly Web-based survey of
channel partners that identifies trends in IT channel business.
The Channel Panel provides real time data that is available
prior to point of sale (POS) data and is a useful device in
assisting sales and marketing departments in evaluating programmatic
and marketing strategy for product channels. Launched in January
2006, the Channel Panel has averaged over 578 respondents
per quarterly survey.
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