Doom and gloom for UK PC market in Q2

Latest Gartner EMEA figures make depressing reading as the top five vendors shuffle positions on falling sales

PC sales in the UK have gone into freefall, according to Gartner’s latest figures, as the overall market in western Europe plummeted by 19 per cent in the second quarter of 2011.

Gartner said the mobile PC market dropped 20.4 per cent, with mini-notebooks falling a whopping 53 per cent. Desktop PCs declined 15.4 per cent year on year.

Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner, said: “The PC market in western Europe suffered from weak demand in both the professional and consumer sectors, a market which also faced inventory issues caused by overstocking in 2010.

“The much-anticipated uptake in the professional segment, in the wake of migration to Windows 7, was subdued by the negative economic outlook,” Escherich added.

“PC shipments in the professional segment declined nine per cent in the second quarter of 2011.

"The biggest decline continued to come from the consumer segment, which decreased 27 per cent year on year.”

In terms of market leaders, Acer lost its grip on the number one spot, allowing HP to reclaim the crown, and Dell stayed in third place. Asus saw its shipments drop 23 per cent due to the combination of weak consumer demand and falling mini-notebook shipments. Apple snuck into fifth place in the table with a seven per cent market share.

“This quarter’s results highlight the ongoing weakness of consumer demand, and could indicate a structural change in the market that threatens to continue in the near future,” said Escherich.

In the UK, Q2 PC market shipments dropped across the board, due to weak demand from both the professional (suffering a 13.5 per cent fall) and consumer (15 per cent fall) sectors, along with oversupply issues.

A total of 2.5 million units were shipped in the UK during Q2, Gartner said.

HP grabbed the top UK spot again, with Dell slipping into second place, and Acer sliding into third, dropping from a leading 22.4 per cent market share in Q2 2010, to just 13.9 per cent of the market in 2011. Samsung remained in fourth place, and Apple grabbed the fifth spot.

Isabelle Durand, principal analyst at Gartner, said: “Acer’s decline of nearly 50 per cent in the second quarter pulled down the market further than expected. Acer had significant inventory that led to its weak performance, but it also prevented other vendors from pushing new shipments into the channel.

“PCs are not attracting consumers' disposable income, particularly in light of alternative devices. While remaining an important device to consumers, there are few compelling technological reasons to drive PC replacements.”