Consumers drive PC sales as business market stagnates

Consumer laptop sales are driving PC growth in the UK

UK business PC sales showed a double-digit decline in the first quarter of this year, according to new figures from research firm Gartner. However, this is expected to change as companies look to migrate to Windows 7.

The UK market saw the weakest growth in sales among major western European countries during 2009, Gartner said.

However, even here there were 3.35 million units shipped in the first quarter of 2010, a 14.5 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2009.

The increase was driven by a 50 per cent growth in consumer purchases, with many people wanting their own PC rather than just one per household, according to Gartner.

This growth masked the fall in professional PC sales, blamed on the continued poor economic conditions.

"Whilst the recovery in the first quarter is positive, it was driven by strong consumer demand. The professional market continued to underperform and saw a double-digit decline," said Gartner principal analyst Ranjit Atwal.

But spending on PCs is now a top priority for most UK organisations, Atwal claimed, driven by the replacement of ageing machines and the migration to Windows 7.

In the UK, HP retained its number one position in terms of units shipped, followed by Dell and Acer.

Across western Europe, however, Acer was the largest vendor with a 23.4 per cent share of the market, pushing HP and Dell into second and third place.

Mini laptops, or netbooks, continued to be significant despite being dismissed as a fad by some commentators, retaining 20 per cent of the mobile PC market.

The region as a whole showed strong growth, but this is in comparison with weak figures for the first quarter of 2009. Nevertheless, Gartner predicts that things will be better from now on.

"With the consumer and professional markets experiencing stronger growth in the first quarter of 2010, we expect the PC market in western Europe to sustain growth," said Atwal.