IDC: SMEs drive PC market growth

Portable PC demand fuelled growth in Q1, claims IDC

PC shipments in EMEA grew by 22 per cent during the first quarter of 2010, according to figures from IDC.

The market watcher pinpointed portable PC sales as a key growth driver during Q1, with the sector enjoying a 32.2 per cent year-on-year increase in shipments within EMEA.

Eszter Morvay, research manager for personal computing within EMEA at IDC, said: "The consumer market remained buoyant in the first quarter, and while mini-notebook sales stayed stable, most of the growth this quarter came from mainstream notebooks.”

The findings were in keeping with earlier projections that the demand for “mainstream notebooks” would “regain momentum” in Q1.

She said: “The market was boosted even further by strong vendor and channel push around Intel's new Core i platform, which has led to a refresh of all major vendors' products.”

The figures also revealed that that the desktop market is alive and well, added Morvay, with increasing demand from the SME and commercial sector driving shipments across the whole market.

“All-in-ones, which experienced the first strong market uptake last quarter, also continued to gain traction, stimulating positive consumer desktop market growth to levels last recorded four years ago.”

HP remained the regions's leading vendor during Q1, maintaining the 21.4 per cent market share it held a year ago. Shipments were up 21.9 per cent to 5.6 million.

Acer, in second, grabbed 19.4 per cent of the market, and has narrowed HP's lead by almost two points in the last year. The Taiwanese firm grew shipments by 35.1 per cent annually to 5.1 million. Dell held on to its Q1 2009 market share of 9.8 per cent, as it boosted shipments by 22.5 per cent to 2.6 million.

Asus, in fourth, was the quarter's big winner, growing shipments by a massive 131.6 per cent annually to 2.1 million. The netbook specialist took 8.1 per cent of the EMEA market, up almost four points on its Q1 2009 share. Toshiba completed the top five, with comparatively muted shipment growth of 6.8 per cent. The Japanese electronics giant saw its market share slip four-fifths of a point annually to 5.9 per cent.