Price hikes keeping disties in the black on PC sales

Volume drops, but price rises enable revenues to increase for business-targeted PC sales by European distributors

Revenues from sales of business-targeted PCs through Western Europe's largest distributors were up in Q4 2017 despite a drop in volume, according to Context.

The market research firm found that commercial-PC revenues increased by six per cent year on year in the final quarter of 2017, while unit sales declined by six per cent.

Revenue growth was driven by a continuous year-on-year rise in distributors' average sell prices (ASPs), which was able to offset the effects of lower volume. The ASP of commercial PCs in the quarter was €646 (£565), 12 per cent higher than in the previous year.

PC ASPs have been on the rise since the end of 2016 as a result of exchange-rate fluctuations, changes in component costs and a beneficial increase in demand for higher-priced products, claimed Context.

In Q4 2017, as in earlier quarters of the year, there was a significant contribution from the demand for higher-priced products as commercial customers continued to focus on improved quality, performance and mobility.

This was also noticeable in the breakdown of unit sales: most volume growth in the segment came from the high end of the market with, for example, a 10 per cent increase in sales of ultra-slim portables and a nine per cent rise in those of notebook workstations.

"Looking forward, PC pricing and revenues in the commercial segment are expected to continue to benefit from the shift in demand to higher-end products as users maintain their focus on high quality, high performance and, often, high portability", said Marie-Christine Pygott, senior analyst at Context.

The year-on-year revenue growth for business-targeted PCs in the UK was 13.2 per cent, the region being beaten in Europe only by Poland with 13.9 per cent.

As for other major European economies, Germany grew by 9.8 per cent, France by 5.1 per cent, while Italy dropped by 2.2 per cent.