The number of visitors to Commart Thailand 2010 is expected to be lower than in recent years due to public concern about the political situation, but their spending at the four-day fair that started yesterday is likely to be at least on a par with last year's event.
Pathom Indarodom, general manager of the organiser, ARIP, yesterday said the number of visitors was expected to drop to about 850,000 from an average of 1 million in previous fairs.
However, consumer spending at the event is expected to be the same as last year at more than Bt3 billion in the conservative case, and could reach Bt3.5 billion in the best case, thanks to heavy promotional campaigns by all participating information-technology vendors.
Moreover, Pathom said, consumer IT products had increasingly become necessary items in the view of much of the public.
The fair, which is being held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, ends on Sunday.
Pathom expects most visitors will buy what they want quickly and hurry back home, instead of looking around before making a purchase decision as in previous years.
ARIP has coordinated with the convention centre and Lumpini police station to step up security in and around the fair.
The red-shirt protesters have vowed to demonstrate across Bangkok tomorrow, taking their vehicles to all parts of the capital. They say they are now waging a class war by peaceful means against the elite, changing tactics in a bid to win sympathy from the capital's middle class.
Pathom added that the consumer IT product market had picked up since the fourth quarter last year. He is confident the market will show positive growth this year, given that people still want to invest in consumer IT items.The value of the computer market alone this year is expected to be Bt80 billion, up 10 per cent fromlast year.
Toshiba Thailand's country manager in charge of the IT business division, Takon Niyomthai, said the consumer IT market is expected to pick up this year and that total sales of laptop computers in Thailand were expected to surge to 1.9 million units, up from around 1.5 million last year.
Toshiba projects sales growth of its laptop computers this year, in line with the plan to launch many new products and focus more on the provincial market.
Yunyong Muneemongkoltorn, general manager of Epson (Thailand), said IT vendors had already adjusted to the political situation by running their businesses more cautiously.
He added that business had to continue as usual, regardless of the political situation.
