PC market on the mend
Sales up by nearly 20 per cent, reports IDC
The PC market has recorded its highest growth, with sales up by nearly 20 per cent, and resellers can expect high sales to continue, according to analyst IDC.
PC shipments grew by 18.7 per cent in EMEA in the third quarter of the year compared with the same quarter last year.
Western Europe saw 17.5 per cent growth year on year, helped by solid consumer notebook sales and aggressive pricing in retail and business channels.
Notebook sales jumped by 51 per cent in the region but with a price decline of more than 25 per cent year on year. Desktop sales also increased, driven by business renewal.
Andy Brown, IDC's EMEA mobile computing programme manager, said: "Things are on the up, largely driven by notebooks, as there is a low installed base in the consumer and SME market. For desktops, business is picking up with renewal cycles coming round every four years."
Brown added that vendor schemes such as Top Value from Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Top Seller from IBM have boosted the market. "But it is still not an easy market and resellers have to fight for business," he said.
"If you're not working with HP [which enjoyed 17.6 per cent growth in Q3 year on year] there are only a few guys you can work with. And HP is picking and choosing."
Brown advised resellers to focus on notebook sales. "Acer [with 55 per cent growth] is driving a lot of notebook sales through the channel and the margins are better than for desktops sales," he said.
Shaun Frohlich, executive chairman of reseller Teksys, said: "We have had a good quarter as we do a lot of business in the education sector and the summer is a boom time for sales.
"But the market isn't buoyant. It's a grind. There are hoops you have to go through to get business. It is still a buyers' market. The price you pay for what you get is unbelievable. The margins are insanely low."