Karachi: People of Karachi purchase 120,000 laptops in a month, half of them brand new, said sources.
According to information gathered by The News Tribe, 2 million Karachities are internet users, around 20 percent of the country’s total internet population. Around 51 percent buy new laptops while the rest buy used machines.
Increased sale of laptops has affected the sale of desktop computers. Only around 2,000 desktop computers are now sold compared with 5,000 new and old desk top machines a few years ago. Of the 2000 desk top computers now sold in the city in a day, only 500 are new.
Market sources claimed that people of Karachi used to purchase more than 200,000 laptops a month before financial recession when law and order and electricity supply were also better. Toshiba, Dell, Acer, HP and Sony are the leading brands in new and old laptops in Karachi, but Karachiites also purchase ‘Mix Brand’ machines which have parts of different brands. These type of laptops are assembled by local hardware experts.
The most interesting fact of the Pakistani laptop market is that people are dependent on carriers (khapiyey) to fulfill their needs. These carriers import refurnished laptops from Middle East, EU and East Asian countries.
Sources related to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told TheNewsTribe on the condition of anonymity that FIA recently captured 500 laptops from a local cargo office in Karachi which were brought in the country without duty payment. This incident indicates huge involvement of carriers (khapiyey) in laptops and computers market.
A female owner of online Pakistani portal used for online sale of laptops told TheNewsTribe that the majority of purchasers are youngsters who order new and used ones for their personal use.
“If there is no load shedding, law and order situation improves and there positive competition the sale of laptops will increase in Karachi,” said Mohammad Yaseen, vice president of Pakistan Computers Association when talking to TheNewsTribe.
Experts from computer software and hardware say Pakistan’s computer market is a land of many opportunities where businesses have a lot of room to grow.
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