PC market continues upswing in Q2

Business demand is still hampered by budget constraints, but consumer takeup of notebooks and all-in-one PCs is driving growth

heading up: The Western European PC market grew 19.6 per cent

Consumers have driven the Western European PC market to growth in the second quarter of 2010, with businesses still putting off upgrades due to budget constraints.

Gartner’s latest PC market stats show a 19.6 per cent increase in Q2 2010 compared to 2009, with demand for consumer notebooks and all-in-one desktop PCs growing. Shipments for the quarter totalled 15.6 million units.

The market has seen a shift in dynamics as well with all top-10 vendors having a major influence on the market, rather than just the top five, according to Gartner.

Leading the pack was Acer with 23.7 per cent market share, closely followed by HP with 21.6 per cent share. Dell came third with 10.1 per cent share with ASUS close behind on 8.5 per cent. Toshiba grabbed fifth place with 5.9 per cent share. Further down the top ten, Apple, Samsung, Sony and Lenovo all saw growth of above 30 per cent.

Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner, said: “Western Europe showed continued growth in Q2, recovering quickly from the slowdown seen in the first half of 2009. 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 strong performance in Q2 2010 was partly due to a weak second quarter of 2009. For a better comparison, the PC market in Western Europe grew six per cent compared with Q2 2008, indicating not only a recovery but good underlying market strength.

“Economic concerns in several southern European countries (Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece) created uncertainty in the PC market and caused more volatility in the second quarter of 2010, rather than softening overall demand,” added Atwal.

Demand for mini-notebooks slowed down in the region, said the analyst, with mini-notebook growth reaching less than 10 per cent for the first time, below the growth rate of standard mobile PCs.

Gartner said the improvement in demand from the professional market was ‘modest’ in Q2, with buyers still affected by the economic conditions and unit price increases, causing some PC purchases to be delayed.

“Despite the increased economic concerns, the Western European PC market is the most competitive we have seen for many years,” said Atwal. “It is now a market influenced by the top ten, and not just by the top-five vendors.”