PC volume sales by Western Europe’s largest distributors were weak throughout much of 2017 but have now returned to growth, according to the latest data published by Context.
Volume sales of desktops, notebooks and PC workstations increased by +3,3% in January 2018 when compared to the previous year, following monthly year-on-year declines throughout Q2, Q3 and Q4 2017.
Growth in early 2018 was driven by commercial PCs, which saw a +10.3% rise in volumes in January.
Commercial demand was strong enough to offset continuing weak performance in the consumer segment, where PC volumes dropped by -4.4%.
All commercial PC categories saw growth in unit sales in January: notebooks were up by +12%, desktops by +6.5% and PC workstation sales by +12.5%, albeit from a small base.
“Commercial PCs are expected to remain the stronger segment in the near future as more companies upgrade to Windows 10 and refresh their ageing hardware,” Marie-Christine Pygott, senior analyst at Context.