Channel reaping rewards of home working boom - analyst

Although Context records first overall drop in channel sales since COVID-19 crisis began

Channel sales of home working technology including web cams, headsets, inkjets and workstations have continued to boom into April, according to Context.

Based on a four-week rolling average, week 15 (starting 6 April) saw UK and wider European IT channel growth decline for the first time since the COVID-19 crisis began, the market watcher claims.

However, Context put this down mainly to supply shortages and the timing of public holidays.

Despite the overall decline, the same homeworking categories that have lit up the market since lockdown began continued to exhibit strong growth, Context said.

It highlighted web cameras (102 per cent) virtualisation software (48 per cent), notebooks (29 per cent), headsets and microphones (27 per cent), workstations (27 per cent), ink cartridges (19 per cent) and all-in-one inkjets (18 per cent) as examples.

"Supply shortages in certain popular consumer products combined with a slowdown in enterprise activity meant week 14 did not display a quarterly peak in Europe," Context managing director Adam Simon said.

"However, there's still high demand in Europe across many home working categories. So channel resellers can hope to expect better growth now the Easter break is behind them, especially if supply shortages ease as they move through the second quarter."