Gaming PCs, ultrathin notebooks and Chromebooks provided bright spots in an otherwise soft Q4 2017 Christmas season for PC sales across Western Europe, according to data published by Context.
Volume sales of Enthusiast and VR-ready gaming PCs from Western Europe’s largest distributors to retailers, consumer etailers and telephone shops increased by +11% in the run-up to Christmas compared to the previous year.
Ultrathin notebooks (generally defined as laptops less than 16mm thick) saw unit sales rise by +28% across both traditional and new mobile form factors, with convertibles posting the strongest growth — albeit from the smallest base.
“Chromebooks were also in demand in some countries and posted an overall growth of +66% year-on-year even though the base in the region remained low,” says Marie-Christine Pygott, senior analyst at Context. “The continued popularity of gaming PCs, ultrathin systems and Chromebooks was, however, unable to offset the general weakness in demand for traditional consumer PC systems.”
Overall, PC volume sales from Western European distributors to consumer channels during the holiday season were down by -9,1% against the same period in 2016.
