UK sees strong Q1 PC shipment growth

Despite continuing economic fears, PC shipments during the first quarter of 2008 in Western Europe rose by 14.1 per cent on the same time last year.

Among the key drivers for the continued rise in sales is the difference between the pound and the dollar, with the exchange rate helping to drive down the ASP for many laptops and desktops.

The 15.2 million PCs shipped during the quarter show that, despite increasing fears over the economic environment, consumers are proving surprisingly resilient when it comes to the PC market, Gartner’s principle analyst Ranjit Atwal said.

"The decline in pricing helped outweigh any negative influences driven by economic concerns in the first quarter of 2008," he said. "While the PC market is not immune to an economic downturn, continued strong mobile penetration helps to sustain robust growth."

In the UK specifically, first quarter shipments increased 11.2 per cent, slightly down on the average rate of growth across the region but still strong, totaling 3.1 million units. Growth in the mobile sector is still growing though, with it passing the 40 per cent mark for the first time.

Mobile PC sales made up over 60 per cent of the market during the first quarter and nearly 70 per cent of consumer PCs. However, it wasn’t such good news for the desktop market with it seeing a 15 per cent decline in both the consumer and professional markets; the latter is an area where it has remained strong in previous quarters.

Dell and HP both remained leaders in the market, with the vendors seeing market share of 24.6 per cent and 22.6 per cent respectively. Acer continued its climb with its market share reaching 11 per cent.

Toshiba and Fujitsu Siemens made up fourth and fifth, with eight per cent and five per cent respectively.