Brexit puts freeze on PC shipments in UK

PC shipments down by 11.8 per cent in the UK over Brexit-related uncertainties

The EMEA PC market has continued to stabilise in the second quarter of 2017 with shipments only dropping 0.6 per cent year over year but Brexit uncertainties have hit the UK, according to IDC.

A total of 15.91 million units of desktops, notebooks and workstations were shipped in Q2, down from 16.01m in the same three months of 2016.

Notebook shipments were the region's star performer, growing 3.1 per cent annually with a particularly strong 5.2 per cent growth in central and eastern Europe (CEE).

Desktop shipments continued on a downward trajectory according to IDC, with shipments falling 8.3 per cent year on year in EMEA. CEE again saw the highest year-on-year shipment increase at 7.8 per cent.

Western Europe was however subject to soft declines of 2.1 per cent annually having previously posted two quarters of growth. Desktop shipments fell by 7.8 per cent annually while notebook sales grew marginally, according to IDC.

The PC market in France, Spain and Portugal all performed above the market watcher's expectations, seeing year-on-year growth of 1.9 per cent, 11.6 per cent and 16.7 per cent respectively. Benelux also enjoyed a 5.8 per cent annual increase in shipments.

Brexit-related uncertainties meanwhile dragged PC shipments down by 11.8 per cent in the UK, while German shipments also contracted, claims IDC.

"The traditional EMEA PC market continued to stabilize for another quarter, thanks to strong notebook results stemming from a faster adoption of mobility, in both the consumer and commercial spaces. Back to school also supported large volumes of portable PC," said Malini Paul, senior research analyst of western European personal computing devices at IDC.

"In addition, the return of the CEE region to positive growth for two consecutive quarters, contributed significantly to the overall better than expected results in the EMEA market."

According to IDC, the CEE region's strong performance in PC shipments is thanks to a thriving retail market and some large public sector deals in the region.

"In the CEE region, the PC market reported astonishing growth in the desktop space, resulting in an increase of 7.6 per cent after more than nine long quarters of market decline. This success can be attributed to promotions in retail, continual growth of gaming, and a few large deals that took place the public and corporate segments," said Nikolina Jurisic, product manager at IDC.

IDC also claims that the consolidation among the top five PC vendors in EMEA is progressing, with HP growing its market share by one per cent year over year, driven by solid notebook results and a desktop growth in the consumer space.

Lenovo also improved market share by 1.1 per cent, and saw double-digit growth in commercial notebook shipments. Dell also saw marginal increases in market share for the quarter.