UK PC market behind major EU rivals

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The Western Europe PC market grew 19.6 per cent in the second quarter, but the UK had a weaker period for shipments than its rivals.

A total of 15.6 million units were shipped in Western Europe during the quarter, compared to 13.1 million in the same period of 2009, Gartner figures showed.

In the UK, however, growth was down at 15.1 per cent - almost half that of France and the weakest of the larger PC markets across the continent.

“Given the UK market was also the weakest in the downturn, its recovery had been much more muted,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

“There is no doubt that the introduction of the austerity measures in the UK has hindered any anticipated improvement in the underlying demand for PCs.”

Gartner does not expect to see the UK catch up with the big players in the Western European market this year.

Talking about the wider Western European industry, Atwal said the real test will come in the second half of 2010, since the same period in 2009 was more resilient.

“The strong performance in the second quarter of 2010 was partly due to a weak second quarter of 2009. For a better comparison, the PC market in Western Europe grew six per cent compared with the second quarter of 2008, indicating not only a recovery but good underlying market strength,” Atwal added.

In terms of vendors in the market, Acer and HP retained their places as the top two manufacturers, with market shares of 23.7 per cent and 21.6 per cent respectively.

Gartner figures on the first quarter showed the market had risen 19.4 per cent from the same period in 2009.

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