Western Europe PC Market Declined 18 Per Cent in First Quarter of 2011

PC shipments in Western Europe totalled 14.7 million units in the first quarter of 2011, a decline of 17.8 per cent from the same period in 2010, according to Gartner, Inc.
 
“The PC market in Western Europe had not exhibited a decline since the second quarter of 2009,” said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner. “This quarter’s poor performance was due to excess inventory accumulated at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010 in many countries in Western Europe. The excess inventory was reduced only slightly, as demand came to a standstill. The seasonal growth was also weaker than expected, indicating that the downward trend seen at the end of 2010 continued into the first quarter of 2011.”
 
In Western Europe, consumers continued to hold back disposable spending on PCs, or they spent it on other devices like media tablets. This resulted in extending current PC life cycles. PC shipments in the consumer market declined 25 per cent year-on-year, with the mini-notebook segment hit especially hard.
 
“The PC demand in the professional market also held back this quarter as the weak economic environment continues to discourage PC spending,” said Ms Escherich. PC shipments in the professional market decreased 8 per cent year-on-year.
 
HP maintained its No. 1 position in Western Europe despite a 25 per cent decline in mobile PCs. Both Acer’s and Dell’s shipment performances were considerably lower than the market average. Acer faced high levels of inventory from the previous quarter and Dell recorded slow demand across all segments. Declining demand for mini-notebooks also impacted Asus’ performance. Apple made its debut among the top five vendors in Western Europe displacing Toshiba in the first quarter of 2011. Apple was the only one among the top five vendors to increase shipments, with volumes for mobile PCs growing 32 per cent in the first quarter of 2011.

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