Warehoue Stationery enters the cheap PC market

5.50pm - By RICHARD PAMATATAU


Warehouse Stationery has joined the cheap PC-set with a cut-price entry level box from HP being sold for $999 with a printer, desk and Windows software.

It followed hot on the heels of discount retail chain The Warehouse last week selling out of $999 PCs from American giant Dell Computer.

Warehouse Stationery general manager Rob Smith said cheap PC sales are going gangbusters.

"The dollar has contributed to the trend and lots of people are using it as a chance to get a second machine for the family for internet access," he said.

This is a new benchmark and the market is huge, Smith said.

Warehouse Stationery had almost sold out of cheap PCs today and while it had others in stock Smith said there may be more offers around the corner.

His company has 41 outlets and considers itself a major player in the Kiwi PC market but numbers sold were not revealed.

HP General manager imaging and printing group Jennifer Rutherford said the price lets people "snap up a box for Christmas".

"Let's face it though, this is the machine to get you going on basic PC stuff but, while the specifications are good, it is not the most grunty machine on the market," Rutherford said.

People wanting to do a lot of image processing on their PC might like to consider a more powerful machine, she said.

IDC PC Analyst Liam Gunson said the average selling price of a PC in New Zealand has been continually declining.

The Q3 average price in 2001 was $3,562 and in the same period in 2003 it has dropped 41 per cent to $2,118.

Gunson said the falling cost of PCs is not new but the very price sensitive market is saturated and the rising dollar has allowed these price points.

There is no indication that these will slow but there is a point where prices cannot drop further, he said.