UK economic recovery to drive thin-client boom

Western Europe markets looks rosy but Russia-Ukraine crisis drags down overall EMEA market

Growing economies in the UK, France and Germany will fuel a boom in thin-client sales, according to IDC, which reports healthy growth in the sector in western Europe thanks to the death of Windows XP.

In the first quarter, thin-client shipments across the whole of EMEA rose by 15.4 per cent annually to 483,000 units – a growth figure IDC branded "impressive". It said western Europe in particular benefited from the end of support for Windows XP, which was a key factor in the growth.

"The end of support for Microsoft's Windows XP, commercial PC renewals, and overall economic growth in western Europe fuelled thin-client shipments in the first quarter of the year," it said.

Improving economies in the UK, France and Germany – along with other developed markets – will see the annual growth figure for western Europe in 2014 hit 9.6 per cent, the analyst added.

But it is another story for eastern EMEA as Russia – the fifth-largest thin-client market in the region – saw sales collapse by more than 40 per cent annually due to the Ukraine crisis.

"[We] expect that the Russian market will suffer a severe setback in 2014, dampening thin-client shipment developments in the greater central and eastern Europe region," IDC said. "As a result, the overall thin-client market will decline [in EMEA] by 18.1 per cent year on year."