PC sales rocket in the UK as homeworking becomes the norm

Notebook sales see 51 per cent growth across western Europe, claims Context, as customers scramble to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic

PC sales have seen an massive spike in across Europe as a result of nations imposing lockdowns on their populations and workers resorting to work remotely.

Figures from channel analyst Context released today have revealed a 51 per cent year-on-year spike in notebook sales in western Europe and a nine per cent increase in desktop sales during the first three weeks of March, driven by the coronavirus pandemic.

Commercial notebook sales jumped by a staggering 56 per cent, while consumer-based sales grew by 44 per cent.

The largest distributors in western Europe enjoyed a 38 per cent year-on-year increase in PC sales during the first three weeks of March, Context claims.

Distributors in Italy, the country hardest hit by coronavirus and the first to go into full lockdown, grew notebook revenues by 110 per cent in the first three weeks of March. Spanish distributors saw an 87 per cent increase, followed by Germany at 52 per cent, the UK at 50 per cent and France at five per cent.

Several high profile industry figures have been outspoken in their opinions that the coronavirus pandemic will mean a surge of business for the channel. CEO of distribution giant ALSO, Gustavo Möller-Hergt said last week that the pandemic will mean an increased demand for hardware, software and services.

Computacenter CEO Mike Norris meanwhile remarked that the pandemic has led to a surge in demand for laptops, but sounded some concerns about how the virus will affect other parts of the resellers' business.

CEO of Computacenter competitor Bechtle, Thomas Olemotz, has also suggested that the coronavirus could hurt its financial performance this year as the European economy "cools down".

Context's figures reflect a resurgence for the PC market amid the unprecedented circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic. In December, before the pandemic started, Context had forecast the PC market to enter into decline this year claiming that Windows 10 refreshes had begun to slow down and CPU shortages had re-emerged to cause supply constraints for the channel.

Context's gloomy forecast came after IDC and Gartner marked 2019 as the PC market's first full year of growth since 2011.

IDC had shipments of desktops, notebooks and workstations 2.7 per cent up on the previous year to 266.7 million devices.