UK defies PC slowdown

Context and IDC figures suggest UK emerged from Q3 UK PC bloodbath relatively unscathed

UK PC sales through distribution swelled double digits in Q3 even as the wider western European market contracted, according to market watcher Context.

UK sales rose 11.2 per cent year on year in the three months to 30 September, said the analyst, which tracks sales through top distributors across the region.

This defies a 3.3 per cent decline seen in the wider European market, with German sales crashing 13.9 per cent, Italian sales plunging 11.9 per cent and French sales inching up 0.5 per cent. It also contrasts with a slowdown in global shipments shown in IDC and Gartner's Q3 data.

The UK was less severely affected than the eurozone countries by this year's currency issues, noted Marie-Christine Pygott, senior analyst at Context.

This year's Q3 figures were also competing against a strong comparable quarter in 2014, when XP migration demand and the launch of low-end, Bing-based notebooks fuelled a 22 per cent year-on-year rise in sales.

Besides the UK, the Spanish PC market also emerged from Q3 in sound shape as sales in the country shot up 17.5 per cent, Context said.

This is a picture mirrored by IDC, whose figures suggested the UK, along with Spain, avoided the worst of the carnage. While western European PC shipments fell 18.4 per cent, the UK and Spain suffered falls of just 11.1 and 3.3 per cent, respectively, while France and Germany contracted by 21.2 and 23.3 per cent respectively, the market watcher said.

High inventory levels of Bing SKUs continued to dampen new shipments, IDC noted.