The first computer in Hungary was a Soviet product that was put into action December 1959. The first Western computer was obtained by the Ministry of Heavy Industry in 1964. In 1982, a large number of computers fled the Hungarian market, which were imported by traders (18).

The import liberalization of 1989 and the breakdown of the Eastern markets hit the Hungarian information and communication technology companies hard as their products became unmarketable. Hardware production basically stopped by the early 1990s. Most computer production was centered around accessories and missing parts (19).

As of 1995, information technology represents approximately 5% of industrial and commercial activities. Companies generally spend less than one percent of their income on information technology. As of 1996, the hardware market of Hungary is strongly PC oriented, personal computers and printers are most in demand at the hardware market. In 1996 approximately, 120,000 PCs and 7,500 laptops were sold. These figures are expected to rise by 10% in 1997 (20).

The largest hadware and software suppliers include: Albacomp, Compaq, IBM, Digital, HP, Olivetti, Graphisoft, AST, Computer 2000, CSH, HRP, Mûszertechnika, Microsoft, Novell, Oralce, Synergon, Montana, KFKI Számítástechnikai Rt., Silicon Graphics, ICL, Walton, SZUV, Scala, SAP, Recognita, Ikon, Areco Systems, Informix, Lotus, Sun, 3M, Bull, Ingres, Psion, Kerszov, and Morphology (21).

The computer market is a growing part of a growing IT market of about USD $700 million in 1996. Workstations are the most dynamic growth sector of the IT hardware market with an annual growth rate of 20%. Best sales prospects include: servers, PCs and active networking elements (routers, bridges, modems). At the end of 1994, there were 489,674 installed computers in Hungary. This figures includes 475,220 PCs (199,360 foreign brand), 2,702 workstations, and 3,392 multiuser systems (22).

Hungarian consumers cite the following criteria, ranked in order of importance, in selecting a computer: product availability/delivery, pricing, warranty, payment terms/credit, and service. Hungarian end-users are rather price sensitive; thus, many clones and locally assembled PCs still dominate the market. They tend to be cheaper than brand-name; however, after-sale service is not provided. 1994 figures show that 47,930 machines were brand-name, representing 41% of the market (Compaq 9.7%, AST 4.8%, Digital 3.9%, HP 3.4%, and IBM 3.1%) (23).

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