Tablets pad out distie revenue

Fast-growing form factor now generating more revenue than servers for top European distributors, according to Context

Tablets generated more than 12 per cent of the average European distributor's PC and server revenue last month, claims Context.

According to the analyst's Data Intelligence Service, tablets accounted for 12.2 per cent of total European technology distributors' revenue in October, up from 5.6 per cent last year.

This makes tablets the third-largest revenue earner behind notebook PCs (61.2 per cent) and desktop PCs (18.5 per cent) and ahead of servers (6.6 per cent).

IPad revenue in Europe's business and consumer channels grew 178 per cent and 90.2 per cent year on year in Q3 respectively.

According to recent figures from Context, Apple shipped 433,500 iPads through western European distributors in Q3. This compares to 66,000 HP TouchPads, 60,000 Asus Eee Pads and 48,000 Acer Iconia tablets.

Context chief executive Jeremy Davies said: "Apple's iPad is a significant contributor to the growth in distributor tablet revenue.

"What's more, the iPad continues to make inroads into Europe's business channels, with Q3 2011 seeing a significant year-on-year uptake in adoption by both small to medium-sized businesses as well as large enterprises."