According to preliminary data recently released by IDC, PC sales in Europe, Middle-East and African markets saw a boost in the second quarter of the year compared to the same period a year ago. The research company believes that PC sales are primarily driven by corporate refreshes.

EMEA PC Market Sees a Boost

The report claims that Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) market faced another strong quarter at 20.3% growth in Q2 2004 compared with the same quarter last year in. Assisted by a continued rebound in corporate spending, desktop sales also benefited this quarter from an uplift in consumer renewals and posted over 16% growth year on year, directly contributing to sustain overall market growth at 20.3% for the fourth consecutive quarter. Demand for notebooks remained robust with more than 29% growth year on year, although slowing in comparison with the 40% growth recorded throughout 2003.

“The trends observed in the first half of the year are encouraging. As anticipated, rising commercial spending and corporate rollouts are providing a major market uplift, but consumers are also increasingly prompted to renew their home systems thanks to attractive digital bundles, while continuing to show great interest in notebooks,” said Karine Paoli, research director for IDC’s EMEA Personal Computing group.

Desktop sales have been a major driver this quarter, boosted by an increasing number of corporate refreshes across the region and driven by the need for hardware replacement and OS migration. An uplift in the consumer space has also been evident, stimulated by attractive digital bundles in retail.

Notebooks continued to display strong trends, in line with expectations at 30% growth year on year, with demand remaining buoyant in the consumer and SMB segments. While the market remains a major vendor battlefield and prices are under pressure, with a large share of low-entry systems, price erosion has slowed slightly this quarter as many vendors opted for healthier revenue and margin results.

x86 server sales also continued performing strongly, driven by increased enterprise spending and aggressive competition in the SMB market, IDC said.

“However, economic growth expectations remain patchy across the region and may affect spending behavior in the commercial and consumer spaces in some countries, and will therefore force the industry to maintain aggressive pricing to keep demand afloat in the second half of the year,” Mr. Paoli added.

Western Europe displayed positive trends in most countries. Germany is clearly showing signs of improvement, with an uplift in corporate rollouts as well as in the consumer space. The UK displayed another strong quarter in both the commercial and consumer markets as well as public and education sectors. France and Italy showed good performance driven by an enterprise investment pick up boosting desktop and server sales, with continued growth in consumer and SMB notebooks, while Spain continues to benefit from deals in the education and government sectors. Growth in Central Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa also sustained strong trends driven by continued investment in the region in both the private and public sectors.

HP Outpaces Dell in EMEA Region

HP retains clear leadership in EMEA and maintained aggressive marketing strategies across all form-factors. Desktop sales were particularly strong, but overall growth was affected by a counter-performance in the notebook segment compared with Q2 last year (when sales were boosted by sharp price declines and “crazy days”-type operations) and more revenue-driven choices this quarter.

Dell continued to outpace the market, again recording over 33% growth across each form factor – desktop, notebook, and x86 servers. The direct vendor continues to drive a fierce competitive environment in the corporate space with aggressive positions, as well as gain share in the SMB and consumer markets across the region, consolidating its position across EMEA.

Fujitsu Siemens Computers recorded another very strong quarter at over 42% growth year on year. The vendor’s strong performance across all product lines has been assisted by the market uplift in commercial and consumer desktop replacement along with continued growth in the SMB segment and focus on mobility.

Acer posted another outstanding performance at 60% growth, with notebooks continuing to drive the vendor’ position in EMEA, though desktop sales were also very strong this quarter. Effectve execution and price positioning continue to assist the company’s progression in Europe.

Finally, IBM also experienced a very good quarter at 21%, continuing to benefit from the commercial market uplift but also very competitive positioning across both the corporate and SMB markets, which are assisting IBM's consistent performance in the region.

Most vendors posted strong results, benefiting from the market dynamics across the region, but competition was fierce. The market in EMEA remains very fragmented, and though the performances of regional and local vendors may be patchy — in some instances suffering directly from international vendors' aggressive positioning – they continue to occupy key positions in both the desktop and notebook markets.