Public sector increases PC sales with educational projects
Valor Econômico 05/21/2009
The industries of automobiles and civil construction are not the only ones that have seen in the public sector their best ally in moments of crisis. In the last months, the government - in its three spheres - has been one of the main engines of the market of computers. The demand comes from all sectors, but it is the area of education, among all sectors of the public apparatus, the one which stimulates the businesses of the PC manufacturers the most.
At the request of Valor, research company IT Data made a survey of the main initiatives underway in the country. The results indicate more than 300 thousand laptops will be bought by teachers of the public system of education this year. That's equivalent to almost 10% of the total of the sales of portable computers projected for 2009. What is curious is that such market practically did not exist one year ago.São Paulo and Pernambuco are among the States that have driven this process of "digital inclusion" of teachers, together with the Federal District. With different projects, local governments have made the direct connection between the PC manufacturer and the final consumer, bypassing the retail chains. The result is the fall in the cost of the equipment for the teacher, the increase in the profitability of the manufacturers and the guarantee of payment of the product, since the machines are normally discounted from the paycheck. In March, the government of São Paulo closed an agreement with Positivo Informática, Microsoft and Caixa Econômica Federal to launch the "Teacher's Laptop". The program, which had registrations from 80 thousand teachers, should operate nearly R$ 139 million (US$ 66.2 million). In general, the projects normally go beyond the simple sale of equipment. The computer is equipped with a software package that includes material for the qualification of the teachers and pedagogical content for use in classrooms.It is a huge Market. Brazil has nearly 2.3 million teachers in the public system of education, distributed through 157 thousand schools. These initiatives can be a relief for the manufacturers of PCs, whose sales dropped dramatically with the economic crisis. In the first quarter of this year, 2.2 million computers were sold in the country, 12% below the volume registered in the same period of 2008, informs the Abinee, the Brazilian Electrical and Electronics Industry Association.