The pandemic and the government's fresh tax incentive scheme are likely to give the computer market momentum until the first quarter of next year, mainly in the mid- and high-end segments, says American tech giant Dell Technologies.
"We believe the local computer market will continue to gain momentum in line with the rise of consumer demand since the lockdown, as these devices are essential for work and study from home," said Anothai Wettayakorn, vice-president for Asian emerging markets and Southeast Asian consumer business at Dell Technologies.
The prolonged pandemic still hinders users from going back to a normal life, meaning strong demand for computers should continue until the first quarter of next year, he said.
However, over the past few months, economic woes have taken a toll on consumer sentiment for entry-level computers, deemed as those worth around 15,000 baht, said Mr Anothai.
The mid- to high-end computer segments are still doing well, he said.
Users of mid- to high-end computers are less sensitive to economic conditions and their demand is steady for high-performance computers, particularly for gaming and graphics.
This is why the average price of computers currently sold in the market is around 25,000 baht, compared with 18,000 baht in a previous period, said Mr Anothai.
He said the government's Shop and Payback tax rebate scheme is expected to push up computer sales substantially.
The scheme allows people to deduct up to 30,000 baht spent on certain goods and services. The scheme runs from Oct 23 to Dec 31.
Buyers must purchase their items from registered businesses and retain all their receipts.
Some 3.7 million people are expected to take advantage of the tax rebate programme.
This could encourage people who may have wanted to buy computers in the first quarter of next year to purchase during this quarter to be eligible for the tax rebate, said Mr Anothai.
He recalled the strong market push from the government's Eat, Shop, Spend cash handout scheme in the past, saying the computer market saw a 30% rise in sales compared with a normal period, driven by the campaign.
To tap customers in the mid- to high-end laptop segments, Dell recently rolled out new XPS 13, XPS 15 and XPS 17 notebooks.
The company refreshed the XPS 13 and XPS 13 2-in-1 with 11th Gen Intel core processors. The 2-in-1 model can be flipped into tablet mode.
Dell redesigned XPS 15, with a larger 16:10 display and new up-firing speakers. It also introduced a new XPS 17, one of the smallest 17-inch laptops.
"Our new XPS models target affluent millennial users, young executives or entrepreneurs who need thin and light computers with powerful processing speed and design," Mr Anothai said.
There are around 16 million affluent millennial users that could be potential buyers, he said.
The XPS 15 and XPS 17 computer models can support high-performance computing power for graphic and video editing, which suits content creators.
The XPS 13 and XPS 13 2-in-1 start at 56,990 baht and 69,990 baht, respectively. The starting prices for XPS 15 and XPS 17 are 69,990 baht and 99,990 baht.