UK PC market rockets by more than a fifth in Q2 - Context

XP effect continues

The UK and Germany led a revival in the EMEA PC market in Q2, according to figures from Context, which is the latest analyst to pin the boom on the ‘XP effect'.

PC shipments among the top-ten vendors across EMEA grew by 15.6 per cent annually last quarter, the analyst said, adding that it is the strongest growth the market has seen in two years.

Western Europe lead the Q2 growth after unit shipments for the top-ten vendors grew by 28 per cent, but this was offset by a 9.4 per cent decline in central and eastern Europe.

In the UK, the number of PCs which were shipped was up 23.8 per cent, a figure only beaten by Germany, where shipments almost doubled over the same period.

Context said the end of support for Windows XP in April was behind the revival.

"This significant growth follows many quarters of decline, with the exception of a slight upturn of a small single digit growth experienced in Q1 2014," the analyst said. " Vendors spoke of hardware refreshes occurring in the commercial sector following extended PC life cycles and the end of XP support."