PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
The IT market is set to see slow growth throughout the remainder of 2012, according to data from market analyst GfK.
Speaking at the PCR Retail Boot Camp, GfK’s business group director Carl West noted that continued growth in categories such as tablets and smartphones would be offset by continued contraction in developed markets.
Western Europe is predicted to see zero growth for 2012, while North America is forecast for just 4% growth.
Much of the decline in the UK can be attributed to lowered consumer confidence and erosion of prices at retail, however IT has seen growing popularity as PCs and connected devices are increasingly seen as essential purchases.
Another change has been the growth of internet shopping, which is predicted to account for 20 per cent of total sales in Western Europe in 2013. One of the drivers of this growth has been the proliferation of tablet devices, with GfK’s figures showing that tablet users browse shopping sites for 4.4 hours per week on average, compared to 2.2 hours per week for PC users.
PCR Retail Boot Camp, powered by Innergie, is an exciting new conference and expo for the UK PC and IT channel.
Supporting the PCR Retail Boot Camp are Innergie (Headline Partner), Micro-P (Connected Home Partner), GData, VIP Computers, Arctic, Westcoast, Lygo/Turtle Beach, EntaTech, ESET and Zotac/Kuoda (Platinum Partners), plus AVG, AOC, Philips, Avance Technologies, Computers Unlimited, Koch Media, Autotask, Samsung, TP Link, Wasp, Synaxon, Realtime Distribution, Avance, Cisco and Hama (Gold Partners).
CompTIA, Brigantia and the Network Group are also Associate Partners of the event.
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