When asked yesterday for his thoughts on the PC hardware market in SA, specifically the enthusiast segment, Evetech head of operations Kamran Sorathia was positive.
“We do believe the PC market is growing in SA, it’s just a matter of who has what stock, and what the client is looking for.”
Stock levels of hardware components are notoriously fickle in SA, as Sorathia is well aware. “The biggest problem we experience is the availability of the product and pricing, as everyone knows.” As far as he is concerned, the reason for this is quite simple, “I personally think SA in not on the priority list for the biggest manufacturers of PC hardware.”
AMD recently announced its intention to improve its local operation by increasing stock levels and expanding its channel partners. The company believes that in doing so it can double its revenue here in 2011, an ambition which if anything indicates significant potential for growth.
The second major problem has traditionally been pricing. PC hadware is known to accumulate an astonishing number of additional pricing layers on its way over from Europe. However, local pricing is often hit and miss. Just yesterday we reviewed Gainward’s GTX 570 Phantom Edition – a fantastic graphics card, which Sorathia’s online store is carrying for R3,599. If you were to buy this card from Amazon.co.uk, you would pay £347.50 (R4000). Overclockers.co.uk has it for £307.99 (R3,540).
When asked how Evetech could offer the card at such a great price locally, Sorathia was vague, simply saying, “It’s good to hear that finally we have some PC hardware cheaper than the European market, it clearly shows that the SA PC market is growing.”
Sadly, this is not usually the case. Prophecy.co.za is popular for its reliable service and competitive pricing. They sell the Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB graphics card for R2938. The same card costs £199.99 (R2,305) at Overclockers.co.uk, which feels like a more realistic markup for the local market.
An insider at a prominent local hardware retailer, who prefers to remain unnamed, told MyGaming that he believes local pricing is volatile due to local importers and distributors taking advantage of low stock levels. “It’s simple, a product will launch in SA and the manufacturer will only provision literally a handful for the local market. Therefore, when the distributors get their hands on the product, they realise they can inflate the price. It’s basic supply and demand, and as long as supply remains low and demand high, pricing will continue to be artificially inflated.”
So it stands to reason that things will only get better when manufacturers begin to provision more stock for SA, which is bound to happen as long as our hardware market continues to a grow – a trend which many in the industry believe will continue for some time. Having said that, there will always be additional costs incured in bringing stuff over, so we should be willing to accept that we will always have to pay a premium.
Discuss the local hardware industry in the forums
Loading ...
