The market for computer assistance at home - Brazil

1.1 Definition and scope of study

The home IT assistance market concerns both consumers and businesses.

It is split between :

• Services for professionals (firms, liberal professions, self-employed, self-employed entrepreneurs)
• Services for individuals who have grown significantly with the increasing use of computers and the Internet.

There are 3 main types of services for consumers :

• Support in the launching phase (which concerns more than 50% of the cases)
• Assistance in case of operational problems
• Computer training

Business services are, above all, network maintenance and repairs. Assistance companies also offer training for companies. At the same time, new forms of assistance are increasingly being developed, such as IT consulting and cyber security. 

 According to data from ABES (Brazilian Association of Software Companies), the Brazilian market for hardware, software and services associated with information technology is ranked 9th in the world. In 2018, the market exceeded expectations, growing 9.8%, more than double the forecast for the year, which was 4.1%. The growing volume of computers in circulation has opened up great opportunities and would be a good indication for home IT service providers. However, some new challenges must be taken into account. One of them, for example, is the reduction in the prices of computer components, which increases the incentive to replace the devices rather than to repair them. Not to mention that advances in technology and greater competitiveness are leading to a production of higher quality equipment with lower rates of technical failures. These factors have meant important challenges for both small technical assistance companies and large franchises in this market. As a consequence, both need to count on the increasing obsolescence of computer equipment and the loyalty of their customers.