2019 PC sales in Western Europe continue last year's trends: commercial up, consumer weak
London, 22nd February 2019 – Trends that characterized Western European PC distribution during 2018 are continuing in the first weeks of 2019, with good demand from commercial buyers offset by weaker consumer sales, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Volume sales of commercial PCs were up by +5% year-on-year in January following year-on-year growth in each quarter of 2018. Although desktop sales were down by a small -1%, there was positive performance across most commercial categories: desktop workstations increased by +3%, notebook volumes were up by +8 % and notebook workstations were up by +16%. As in 2018, ultra-slim notebooks, characteried by a z-height of less than 18 mm, were strong growth drivers in the portable segment with sales rising by +50%, to give these models a 22% share of the commercial notebook market.
On the other hand, sales of consumer PCs were weak with volumes falling by another -5% in January this year following quarterly year-on-year declines throughout 2018. Although the growth in some segments – including ultra-slim notebooks and Chromebooks – that was seen in 2018 continued, it was not strong enough to reverse the overall negative trend.
“It is expected that commercial sales will remain the stronger in 2019 as Windows 10 refreshes continue and companies focus on improving security and implementing modern workplace solutions”, said Marie-Christine Pygott, senior analyst at CONTEXT. “However, while demand should stay healthy, the current Intel processor supply constraints are expected to have an impact on sell-through during the first half of 2019, although the extent of this will vary by country and vendor.”
Country split:
January year-on-year PC growth Western European distribution
|
|
Business-targeted PCs |
Consumer-targeted PCs |
|
Germany |
2.4% |
-13.2% |
|
United Kingdom |
11.8% |
-27.2% |
|
France |
-1.9% |
-2.4% |
|
Spain |
-3.5% |
-2.4% |
|
Netherlands |
-4.7% |
11.8% |
|
Poland |
8.4% |
1.3% |
|
Switzerland |
-7.9% |
9.9% |
|
Sweden |
26.0% |
1.0% |
|
Denmark |
20.5% |
-21.2% |
About CONTEXT
CONTEXT’s market intelligence, performance benchmarks and opportunity analysis empower clients to optimise operations and accelerate tomorrow’s revenues. With over 35 years of industry partnership and of experience reporting on large datasets, CONTEXT delivers analytics at all points in the value chain, providing clients with actionable insights rooted in concrete data and a profound understanding of customer needs. CONTEXT is headquartered in London, with over 250 staff across the world and in 2017 was recognised as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ by Great Place to Work®.
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