March sees PC sales slow to pick up pace

The UK PC market is slowing down, according to sales figures for March, which show a growth of only three per cent compared with the same period last year.

Romtec hardware analyst John Ces said the figures showed that PC sales were growing slowly across the board and that indirect sales were growing slower than direct sales.

?We have tended to buck the trend,? said Frontline sales director Paul Cook. ?But we have been told by other distributors that March was really quiet.?

Cook said it seemed as if many dealers were chasing the same business, and that a number of other distributors were behind their sales targets for the month.

The March figures follow disappointing February sales figures, which many distributors blamed on uncertainty caused by the general election. They come a week after Datrontech was forced to issue a profits warning after a slow-down in PC sales.

According to research firm Context, Compaq shipped 165,100 units in the UK during the first quarter, followed by Dell with 105,000 units and IBM with 62,500 units.