Western European PC market growing, says Gartner

UK market is weak as a result of austerity measures

The consumer PC market is outperforming business sales

PC shipments in Western Europe totalled 15.6 million units in the second quarter of 2010, a 19.6 per cent increase on the same period in 2009, according to analyst Gartner.

"Western Europe showed continued growth in the second quarter, recovering from the slowdown seen in the first half of 2009,” said Ranjit Atwal, Gartner research director.

"The PC market has so far defied the general economic downturn, but the real test will be in the second half of 2010, since we saw a stronger second half in 2009."

The consumer market continued to outperform business sales, driven largely by consumer notebooks and improving sales of all-in-one desktop PCs. However, there was a slight improvement in demand in the business market in the second quarter.

This market has been affected by the economic conditions and unit price increases, causing some PC purchases to be delayed as companies attempt to drive down costs as part of their recession planning.

Atwal explained why the consumer market was outperforming business. "It comes down to the relative importance of the PC to individuals and businesses. Individuals now see their PCs as a necessity rather than a luxury."

The UK has shown itself to be the weakest of the larger PC markets in Western Europe, with the market in France growing at almost double the UK's rate.

"Given the UK market was also the weakest in the downturn, its recovery had been much more muted," said Atwal.

He blamed the recession for the relatively poor performance of the UK market.

"There is no doubt that the introduction of austerity measures in the UK has hindered any anticipated improvement in the underlying demand for PCs," he said. “We don’t expect this to change for the rest of 2010. As businesses and consumers come to terms with the potential impact of the government measures, caution is certainly the keyword across all IT markets and the PC market is currently no different."

Dell was heavily affected by the UK’s market weakness, shrinking by more than 20 per cent year on year. Business sales were down at Dell, and it was unable to grow its retail market share, as overall volumes of PC shipments fell in reaction to a weaker market.

However, Acer and HP's respective performance was more than double the average growth as they dominated the consumer market with a combined share of almost 45 per cent.

"In many ways, the remaining vendors only have half the consumer market to target, and in a weak market that is a tough proposition," added Atwal.