NATIONAL SURVeY
The last point is pertinent given that areas of its business, including PCs, says
the sheer volume of units that came back Martin Cullen, general manager Ireland
from Tesco was viewed as a major factor personal systems group.
in local PC assembler iQon going to the He is particularly confident that the
wall. company can achieve more growth in the
Talking to IT Europa this time last year, SMB sector. “The small business is still
the Dundalk-based company was bullish buying - the key is to find the right channels
about its expansion plans. “France alone for small enterprises who are not buying
has the potential to double the size of the through retail outlets.”
company [from €65m] over the next two While he described 2007 as a record
years,” says business development director year for HP Ireland, the PC business was
Aidan Donnelly. “We are using France as a especially healthy. “We moved to number
beachhead into northern Africa and most one position in the consumer notebook
of our future growth will come from these space over the last few quarters, for which
new markets.” our retailers deserve credit. Our competitors
But despite securing deals with a have recognised the value of the channel so
number of major French retailers, IQon we are constantly refining our approach, but
entered examinership (the Irish equivalent not as a consequence of what our rivals are
of administration) in November. It was doing.”
hoped that an investor could be found to keep the business going, but it While Dell is still top dog in terms of PC sales, Cullen prefers to focus on
finally went under in late January with a deficit in excess of €6m. HP’s overall IT market leadership. “We are the number one services company
Ironically, it was reported that Tesco has returned almost exactly that in Ireland as a result of a number of services including systems integration.
value of machines to iQon over the previous 18 months. A representative of Corporates are increasingly looking for more from fewer suppliers and our
examiner Michael McAteer (which re-employed about 40 of IQon’s 103 staff to brand recognition is as high as it ever has been. We are very competitive now
help with warranties and post-sales support) said Tesco’s deal with Dell was a on price and the diversity of our business in Ireland means we have good long
factor in the failure to attract an investor to keep the company afloat. term growth potential.”
The last 12 months have been much less traumatic for HP, which reinforced HP is currently adding to its front office staff numbers as it moves closer to
its position as the leading services company in Ireland with growth across all its ambition of becoming the first $1bn IT company in Ireland.
OUR ANALYSIS
IT hardware shipments in Ireland
Ireland always had a problem with being seen as too far from the centre of
Source: eITO forecast europe geographically. Joining the euro-zone solved this, and conveniently
Sector 2007 units 2008 units % change sited as an entry point for the US, english-speaking Ireland mopped up the
Servers 38,199 42,216 10.5 incoming dollars as US firms, especially Dell, Seagate and Intel set up shop
PCs Total 820,503 900,109 9.7 there. Now that the incentives for incomers are running out, and having
Portable 323,174 373,529 15.6 seen its housing stock rocket in price, the Irish face a slightly unsettled
Desktop 497,329 526,580 5.9 economy; consumers still think they are well-off because of the house
Printers/MFPs 319,699 326,011 2.0 prices, but the tide has turned against the SMe, and growth will be less in
LAN cards 131,497 151,541 15.2 the coming period. What new ideas does the Celtic tiger have in its tank?
29 feb 2008 25
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