The market for notebooks helped boost first quarter
sales of PCs in Western Europe as PC shipments recorded robust 19%
growth compared with the same quarter in the previous year,
according to IDC research.
Notebooks spurred growth across the region with a 43% overall
increase in PC shipments year-on-year, in the face of a 1.7%
decline in desktop sales in Western Europe.
Eszter Morvay, senior research analyst at IDC, said, "Despite
its maturity, the Western European PC market showed no signs of
slowing down as overall shipments increased by 12.6% year on year
in the first quarter of 2008. Mobility undoubtedly remained the key
engine of growth across both consumer and business segments."
While the quarter started slowly in 2008, demand picked up in
mid-February and, with a robust March, notebook shipments were
boosted over 30% while desktop sales dropped 10%. The
transition from desk-based to portable platforms accelerated
further in the consumer space in particular, where 70% of purchases
were notebooks.
2007 first half PC sales>>
2007 third quarter PC sales>>