PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Maplin and Dixons Carphone posted positive financial results in July, despite analysts reporting worse than expected PC sales so far this year.
PC shipments in EMEA reached 18.6 million units in Q2 – a 15.7 per cent decline from Q2 2014 – and they’re expected to decline 9.5 per cent this year overall across the globe, says Gartner. This would be the steepest PC shipment decline in two years.
However, while Dixons Carphone admitted seeing a dip in tablet and desktop sales, it posted a 21 per cent increase in profit before tax to £381 million during its first year trading as a merged company, with statutory profit reaching £97 million. Maplin also had a strong year financially. The retailer reported good annual sales growth with total sales up 6.3 per cent to £236 million – its strongest growth since 2008. It also saw annual internet sales growth of 20.6 per cent, with online sales now representing over 10 per cent of Maplin’s total sales.
It was mixed news on the distribution side. Consumer electronics distie Widget posted its results to March 31st 2015, showing a 129 per cent increase in sales, as well as a rise in net profit.
However, trading at Exertis was behind budget and the prior year, its parent company DCC said in an interim management statement.
“As anticipated, the business in the UK continues to be impacted by the weak tablet market and by reduced sales of mobile computing and smartphone products of one large supplier,” it said. “The UK business was also impacted by weaker demand and increased competition across a number of product sectors.”
Vendors, meanwhile, are still feeling the sales slump. Intel had a reasonable Q2 financial period, with operating income falling 25 per cent to $2.9 billion, but AMD posted another disappointing set of results, with Q2 revenue dropping 35 per cent year-on-year to $942 million, alongside an operating loss of $137 million.
It said this was primarily due to lower revenue and gross margin driven by lower sales to OEMs, attributable to a weak consumer PC market.
