UK Channel notebook shipments doubled last quarter - analyst

The number of notebooks being supplied by the channel more than doubled in Q2, according to Context.

The analyst house said the number of shipments flowing through distribution was up 103 per cent in the UK, compared to the same quarter last year.

Across western Europe, the growth stood at 55 per cent.

Marie-Christine Pygott, senior analyst at Context, said: "The numbers are consistent with the challenges posed by the pandemic - including changes in demand and purchasing behaviour, the closing of shops, companies becoming temporarily inactive, and offices across the continent going remote.

"Notebooks have proved to be the form factor of choice; other IT equipment geared to facilitate remote working and homeschooling has also done well during the crisis, including monitors, accessories and communications software."

It was a different story in terms of desktops, with shipments plummeting 27.8 per cent across western Europe.

The drop was sharper in the UK, at 36.3 per cent.

Context said that distributors have been "voicing strong concerns" about the rise in stock levels as a result of dwindling sales.

It added that notebook sales were strong across both the B2B and consumer segments.

Sales of commercial devices to SMB resellers however fell in sequentially on April, which Context said could be the result of smaller resellers becoming "inactive" during the first peak of the pandemic.