Credit crunch fails to dent UK PC market

Gartner reports sales up 11 per cent

Despite global economic woes, PC shipments in the UK totalled 3.1 million units in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 11.2 per cent compared with the same period in 2007.

Gartner said that the decline in pricing "helped outweigh any negative influences" driven by economic concerns in the first quarter of 2008.

"While the PC market is not immune to an economic downturn, continued strong mobile penetration helps to sustain robust growth," said Ranjit Atwal, principal analyst at Gartner.

PC shipments in Western Europe totalled 15.2 million units in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 14.1 per cent compared with the same period in 2007.

The shift in exchange rates between the dollar and the euro allowed vendors to reduce average selling prices much faster than expected, according to the Gartner report.

The UK market was driven by strong mobile PC sales, which accounted for more than 60 per cent of total PC shipments and nearly 70 per cent of consumer PCs.

Mobile PCs saw volumes increase nearly 40 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2007. The desktop market declined in the consumer and professional markets by more than 15 per cent year on year.

Dell and HP continued to dominate the UK market with a combined share of more than 45 per cent.

Dell has finally entered the retail channel in Dixons and Tesco, and saw a 200 per cent increase in consumer mobile PC over the period.

HP managed to drive consumer and professional mobile PC shipments growth, achieving nearly 70 per cent overall growth.

Acer's PC sales included Packard-Bell shipments for the first time, and saw a year-on-year decline with the merger still in its infancy. The combined vendors lost retail shelf space as they worked on their brand strategy.

"The UK PC market performed above expectations in the first quarter of 2008. The impact of an economic slowdown and the credit crunch has not affected the PC market yet," said Atwal.

"However, there is no doubt that falling sales prices made PCs more attractive than ever."