A substantial opportunity for PC vendors, peripheral makers, critical computer component suppliers and independent software developers is provided by the increased use of computers in small businesses. However, the spending on computer peripherals was different for small businesses of various industries.
According to the IDC’s third annual Beyond-the-Box survey, an average of $0.87 was spent by the U.S. customers on an average on additional PC-related purchases for every $1 dollar they spent. An average of $284 per PC was spent by the small businesses having less than 100 employees.
Majority of the customer respondents were found to purchase anti-spam and/or security software. About 24% of them buy the accessories through online websites of retailers. The most popular products which are purchased by small businesses included anti-spam/security software, office productivity software, and storage products. Most of the small businesses were involved in purchasing software by online means. They purchased hardware devices from retail stores.
Small businesses were found to spend large amounts at the time of purchase of accessories. About 26.2% of the overall budget was spent by them in the next three months of the PC purchase. The study revealed that most of the small businesses were involved in replacing their desktops. Additional PC purchases of small businesses included notebooks.