PC market sees decline at end of 2010

Gartner says western Europe PC market declined 4 per cent in fourth quarter of 2010

PC shipments in western Europe totalled 19.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010, marking a decline of 4.4 per cent on the same period in 2009, according to research firm Gartner.

PC shipments in the UK were also down 2.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared with that quarter in 2009, to 3.7 million units.

However, over the full course of 2010, UK PC shipments reached 13.1 million units, representing a 5.4 per cent increase on 2009.

"For the first time since 2006, the overall consumer PC segment showed weak results during the Christmas holiday season, and declined 2.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

"Uncertain economic factors and unemployment seemed to have caused consumers to delay or be conservative with discretionary spending," he explained.

He added that the PC market is losing sales as consumers are opting instead to purchase consumer electronics such as smartphones and tablets, and the UK's professional PC market also remained weak in the fourth quarter of 2010, declining 3.1 per cent.

"Traditionally, the last quarter of the year is driven by growth in the consumer segment," said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner.

"However, between October and the end of December 2010, the consumer PC market in western Europe continued its downward spiral, with shipments declining 8.1 per cent."

In the final quarter of 2010, two major PC vendors saw their market share fall year-on-year across western Europe.

With a 22.1 per cent market share, HP regained the number one position from Acer, which saw a 2.2 per cent drop in market share. Acer was affected by declining demand for mini-notebooks and an excess of channel inventory in some countries, according to Gartner. Meanwhile, Dell continued to struggle in the consumer PC market, but benefited from a slight pickup in demand for professional PCs.

"2011 will be a defining year for the consumer device market," added Escherich.

"Vendors and service providers will have to think about how they will best retain customers and attract new ones if they want to survive in this highly competitive environment."