IDC: EMEA PC market picks up in Q1

Analyst is second to report an uptick in shipments for the quarter, with HP riding high in pole position and Lenovo seeing a sales surge

Lenovo experienced a 75 per cent leap in first-quarter EMEA PC shipments, as a second analyst confirmed the market is defying economic conditions and experiencing a new lease of life.

IDC’s latest figures for the first quarter of 2012 show a 7.6 per cent surge in overall shipments, compared with the same quarter last year.

The UK even beat the average, seeing PC shipments grow eight per cent in the first three quarters of the year.

HP was noted as the leader of the pack, seeing a 21 per cent increase in growth for the quarter, proving its will-it-won’t-it PC division saga is well and truly forgotten. Acer clung on to second place in the table, but saw only 1.8 per cent growth in the quarter, with Dell in third on 9.1 per cent growth and Asus creeping into fourth place with a 22.6 per cent increase in shipments. Despite its huge surge, Lenovo remained in fifth place.

But demand still remains weak, the analyst reported, with sales-out data through distribution continuing to decline. And the analyst hinted that some panic buying could have occurred in the channel, due to fears over a prolonged HDD shortage, coupled with the threat of a price increase.

IDC also warned that the market would remain "constrained" due to the HDD shortages caused by the flooding in Thailand last year, which created a 50 million HDD shortage globally.

Eszter Morvay, research manager at IDC EMEA personal computing, said: “Although the rebound in western Europe remained moderate compared to emerging markets, with overall PC shipments increasing by 1.8 per cent, all countries displayed healthier sell-in results than anticipated.

“Denmark and Sweden recorded the highest growth at double digits, while the UK also experienced a healthy rebound of eight per cent. France remained soft at -0.1 per cent while Germany posted a sustained 6.1 per cent. But most surprisingly, debt-stricken Spain has also shown a major improvement in sell-in, posting a soft decline of just 2.3 per cent.”

Stefania Lorenz, research director at IDC CEMA (central eastern Europe and Middle East and Africa) said part of the market had also exceeded expectations.

“Contrary to the initial expectation of the negative impact of HDD shortages, the PC market in both central eastern Europe and Middle East and Africa exceeded expectations and recovered with annual growth of 18.3 per cent and 13.5 per cent respectively," she said.

“The CEMA region reported total PC volume of 12.08 million with 50:50 share between the two regions. Desktop shipments contracted in both regions, but the portable PC market was a clear winner, with annual growth of over 30 per cent for both regions combined. CEE had a stronger increase of 35.7 per cent year on year while MEA grew by 24.7 per cent.

"As the HDD shortage relaxed in early 2012, vendors were able to increase orders on PCs and distributors were satisfied to place larger orders, having lower stock levels, with March confirmed as the healthier month of the quarter. Entry-level products were the favourite, with aggressive price points from most vendors," she said.