PC sales continue to slide in EMEA

Central and eastern Europe saw a 40 per cent drop in PC sales

PC shipments in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region are still dropping, according to the latest figures from IDC.

The research firm said that overall shipments were down nearly 10 per cent over the most recent quarter compared to the same period last year.

The biggest drops were in central and eastern Europe, where researchers logged a drop in sales of 40 per cent. Western Europe fared better with a sales drop of just 2.5 per cent.

IDC said that the hardest hit sector was enterprise sales, and that the credit crunch combined with tightening budgets kept many businesses from investing in new PCs.

Not all of the news was bad, however. The report noted the emergence of netbooks, which struck a chord with buyers and helped to prop up the overall PC market.

"Global economic conditions continued to affect overall spending in the region, with the commercial segment and the central and eastern Europe region suffering the most," said Eszter Morvay, IDC research manager for EMEA personal computing.

"But continued buoyancy around mini-notebooks helped maintain solid demand in the consumer space in western Europe and prevent further market contraction."