PC sales rebound continues

IDC has released its Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker for the second quarter, which indicates demand for desktop PCs exceeded expectations.

The company said that the PC market in EMEA had been "remarkably strong", pointing towards some economy recovery as well as a boost in corporate upgrade cycles. Growth in the US and the Asia/Pacific region, however, was slightly behind projects according to IDC.

"The PC market remains robust, and in a recovery phase, despite challenges to a broader economic recovery, such as slow job growth and a more conservative outlook in Europe and Asia/Pacific," said Jay Chou, IDC research analyst.

"The factors which led to the recent PC rebound – an aging commercial installed base, a proliferation of low-cost media-centric PCs, and low PC penetration through much of the world – remain key drivers going forward."

"The surge in consumer activity seen in the past two quarters has started to slow as expected, while commercial replacements continue to grow," said Bob O’Donnell, IDC vice president. "We expect consumer activity to remain healthy, but gradually slow through the end of the year, while commercial market growth will be more stable, reflecting a planned replacement cycle over the next several years."

Regarding the EMEA market, IDC cited healthy demand in consumer and corporate segments despite concerns about poor exchange rates and mounting public debt.

The star performing PC vendors this quarter were Chinese manufacturer Lenovo and Taiwanese manufacturer Asus. Lenovo pulled off 47 per cent growth and was particularly strong in EMEA, IDC reported. Meanwhile Asus experienced global shipments up an astonishing 80 per cent from the previous year to the point that the company gained an equal ranking with Japanese electronics giant Toshiba.