UK keeps up with rising Europe PC volumes in Q3

Volumes see pleasing growth rates partly due to XP migration

Analyst Context has released early Q3 2014 figures that reflect a PC sales surge of 19.1 per cent in shipment terms in western Europe.

Volumes passing through western European distribution - including desktops, notebooks, netbooks, and workstations - appear to be rising, based on the first 11 weeks of 2014's third quarter.

Marie-Christine Pygott, senior analyst at Context, said: "Growth in early Q3 2014 reached 12.5 per cent for business-targeted PCs as XP migration orders and the need for refreshes continued to drive demand in the segment."

All the western European leaders saw expansion in early Q3, with Spain expanding an impressive 30.2 per cent. Italy saw volumes rise 28.9 per cent; Germany had its PC shipments increase 18.2 per cent; French PC sales were up 17.3 per cent; and the UK enjoyed a 14.3 per cent boost.

Denmark saw sales go up by 13 per cent in volume terms; Sweden just 7.3 per cent.

Pygott (pictured) added that PCs aimed at consumers saw sales rise on the back of cheap offers for notebooks in particular. Also, tablet replacement cycles appeared slower than expected.

Consumer sales were up 25 per cent year on year, compared with the year-ago figures, which had suffered a big fall at that time.

The 19.1 per cent overall sales expansion follows a 20.8 per cent year-on-year growth rate recorded by Context in Q2 of 2014 for western European PC sales through distribution.