Technology intelligence technology provider IDC Research has noted a rare occurrence of price stability over the past three quarters in both the desktop and mobile segments in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets.
A combination of component shortages and vendor constraint has kept quarterly declines in the low single digit percentages and the annual declines in the low teens. Moderate declines resumed in the MU/SCSI segment, IDC analysts noted in a recently issued report.
In the April survey, IDC observed price declines of about two percent from the January survey results for 3.5" ATA products between 20GB and 80GB for 5,400-rpm and for 7,200-rpm models. The one exception was the 40GB, 5,400-rpm drive that dropped 12 percent after rising in the past two quarters. The price premium for 7,200-rpm drives dropped from the January level with an average of about five percent.
As 7,200-rpm, 3.5" SCSI drives have exited, IDC saw a moderate decline in the 10K-rpm prices dropping only six percent on average. IDC has begun tracking 15K-rpm drive prices and observed that the price premium for the increased speed is over 60 percent.
In the Mobile PC segment, IDC also observed a low, seven percent, average price decline following a three percent average price in the January survey. Again supply is constrained due to component shortages and as in the 3.5" ATA segment this is the third successive quarter of very low declines. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
