East and West are battling over computer market share in the north-west African region, with the American-based Compaq making impressive inroads.
In 1999, Compaq had $60 million in computer sales in this region one year after it opened a regional office in Casablanca. This sales figure is equal to its total regional sales of the previous three years. It is estimated that the company's market share in Morocco is 20 percent. German-based Siemens is the leading western company and Hewlett Packard is third. In 1999, total PC sales and associated equipment equaled 100,000 units.
Despite their expanded efforts, western computer companies account for about 50 percent of the overall market. Of all computers hooked into the Internet in Morocco, roughly half were assembled either in Morocco or the South East Asia.
The computers made in the East sold for less than $1,000 and were popular, especially at Internet cafes because of the low price.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
