EMEA PC shipments slump on soaring dollar

Q1 shipments fall by 7.7 per cent year on year to 20.2 million units according to IDC

EMEA PC shipments were stifled by currency fluctuations and political tensions in the central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMA) region in Q1 2015, according to the latest figures from IDC.

The analyst said that, as expected, PC shipments dropped in the first quarter by 7.7 per cent year on year to 20.2 million units.

This drop in PC shipments was driven by the strong US dollar which caused price rises in local currencies, as well as other factors such as political instability and a decrease in renewals following the end of Windows XP support.

Chrystelle Labesque, associate director at IDC for EMEA personal computing, said: "The first quarter of 2015 was a transition period after strong renewals in 2014. While there are some expectations around the new CPU platform and operating systems to revive the market in coming quarters, the strong dollar will negatively impact IT budgets as product prices in local currencies have and will increase further."

In January, CRN revealed that vendors including HP had raised their prices to mitigate currency fluctuations. Gartner has also warned this month that the soaring US dollar will lead to further price hikes in IT services and products in 2015.

According to IDC, all the sub-regions in EMEA suffered a decline in shipments in Q1, although western Europe fared the best, posting a two per cent decline in shipments year on year.

This compared to central and eastern Europe which saw a drop of 23 per cent in shipments year on year, which was triggered by devaluation of local currencies, a slowdown in the economy and the "ongoing turmoil in the eastern part of the region".

PC shipments in the Middle East and Africa meanwhile fell by 10 per cent year on year.

HP was the leader in the quarter, shipping 4.7 million units with year-on-year growth of 0.1 per cent and holding a 23.2 per cent share of the market.

Lenovo followed in second and enjoyed the strongest growth of the top vendors, with 4.14 million units shipped and year-on-year growth of 19.8 per cent. It held a 20.4 per cent share of the market.

IDC said: "The top two players seem to benefit most from market consolidation in EMEA, posting growth while the market is contracting."