European PC market recovery masked by emerging markets

Slowdown in tablet market offering stability to PC market in mature economies

The Western European PC market enjoyed a "recovery surge" in Q1, but the boost was not enough to offset poor sales in emerging markets, according to IDC.

The analyst very modestly improved its forecast for the PC market in 2014 – it now expects global unit shipments to fall six per cent annually instead of its previous expectation of a 6.1 per cent slump.

It said mature markets drove the cautiously optimistic tweak – which would have been bigger had it not been for weak economies in Latin America.

"Mature regions benefitted primarily from a recovery surge in western Europe while other mature regions performed modestly above expectations in the first quarter of 2014," the analyst said.

"Emerging regions continued to see weak demand and difficult conditions, although the economic environment in Latin America had the largest impact. The impact to emerging regions – a cornerstone of long-term market stability – outweighed the short-term boost seen in mature regions."

Recent reports have suggested that growth in the tablet market is beginning to slow. IDC said that this, along with an XP-fuelled PC refresh push, have contributed to the growth in mature markets.

"Positive factors for the PC market include slowing tablet demand and steadying economic indicators that are contributing to more stable PC shipments in mature markets," it said.

"The Windows XP replacement activity that boosted shipments in the past several quarters is also expected to remain a positive factor for a few more quarters.

"This relative improvement in the outlook will enable the US to further its lead in PC shipments over China and keep the mantle as the biggest PC market globally through 2017."