PC market enjoys BBQ summer

The PC market is dragging itself out of the doldrums, according to the latest figures from market watcher Context.

Unit sales of PCs through the UK’s top distributors over the summer showed an increase of 4.4 per cent, compared with summer 2008, the analyst claimed.

Simultaneously the decline in distributor revenues stopped with sales of PCs, x86 servers and workstations remaining flat at £250m compared with last year.

Mini notebooks still played a major part, accounting for 30 per cent of all notebook units sold in August.

Server sales strengthened in August, increasing from 11.3 per cent [unit growth] in June to 37.6 per cent [unit growth] in August. Desktops and workstations also increased in unit sales over the summer months.

HP topped the vendor board, accounting for 43 per cent of sales in June, 40 per cent in July and 32 per cent in August. Its closest competitor was Acer, which accounted for 17.3 per cent, 16.9 per cent and 19.7 per cent of sales in those same three months. Toshiba, Samsung and Lenovo also appeared in the top five.

Jeremy Davies, chief executive of Context, which uses sales out figures from members of the Global Technology Distribution Council as the basis for its research, said: “If you look at the figures, it shows the numbers over the summer were not as bad as people thought they might be.

“Many thought it was going to be a horrible summer, but were proved wrong, and many believe that the fourth quarter is not going to be as bad either, particularly because of the Christmas ramp up.”

Davies said Lenovo making it into the top five was an interesting development and showed its recent distributor reorganisation was paying dividends. He added that the launch of Windows 7 would be an interesting phenomenon because the software does not necessarily demand a hardware upgrade.

“However, we are set to see some new Intel processors, and the combination of increased [processor] speed and the Windows 7 launch may prompt a quantum leap in sales,” he said.

But despite this, Davies said it was still too early to predict an end to the tougher times.

“People in the industry have become so accustomed to bad news, but they are carrying on with their daily business," he said. "I would say that they are still cautious about the future, but cautiously optimistic.”