UK PC sales plunged in Q1
Tablets, yes; netbooks and notebooks, no
Brits aren't buying so many computers these days, but they are taking to tablets.
But while tablet sales are well up year on year, it hasn't been enough to compensate for slowing notebook, netbook and desktop demand.
UK PC sales during the first quarter of the year were down 7.7 per cent, well below the European average of 2.9 per cent. Only Italy and Spain saw bigger declines, of 10.4 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively. France and Germany both saw sales rise.
The decline was mapped out by market watcher Context, though its data, sourced from the distributors, resellers and retailers who move machines between supplier and buyer, only covers around 40 per cent of the computers sold here.
Context estimates that UK consumer computer sales were down 27.5 per cent, compared to a 16.5 per cent decline across Europe as a whole.
Notebook unit sales fell 5.8 per cent during Q1, while netbooks were down 25.6 per cent year on year. Desktop unit sales fell 9.3 per cent.
Tablet sales, by contrast were, up 910 per cent.
"We still have to wait until the vendors report what they shipped into their distribution channels during the first quarter," said Context CEO Jeremy Davies, "but with people buying fewer PCs than previously... there will be many distributors and retailers trying to get rid of excess stock in the months to come."
Cheaper kit incoming? We hope so. ®
COMMENTS
bored with "things"
Keep wanting to get that tablet, and everytime I am about to buy it, I think that I could spend that money on more gliding lessons ... or a mountain trek in the alps
Not that I can't afford it ... I just am tired of pieces of equipment I plug everywhere
I have PCs , laptops, smartphones, consoles, flat TVs , and some day, wish I had none of it, but climbed K2 instead.
maturing market indeed, in all senses of the word...
the next tech I buy will have to be a time machine, or a teleporter
This time blame the retailers
And the fact that major retailers are still pushing the same outdated tat, or have cut back their ranges while waiting for them to get refreshed, has nothing to do with this at all?
agreed
Too true. My 3 year old cheap laptop is a dual core with 2gb RAM (cost me under 500 quid). will be using that until it breaks. No point as desktop runs fast on it and plays Hd content
re: maturing market
That's a fair point, aside from gamers and enthusiasts a 2-3 year old machine is plenty powerful (not allowing for windows rot) and considering the financial state of affairs, why splash out on a new one that's a bit slicker?
Perhaps it will turn out that the market can't support a new laptop / mobile / gps / tablet / games console every year per person. I know *my* finances cant...
saying that I can't take my eyes off that 17" XPS with the backlit keyboard and 3GB graphics card.
sigh.....
UK PC sales plunged in Q1
Would this have anything to do with the market maturing? That the PC I built 3 years ago or bought 2 years ago is still more powerful than I would ever need?
Or is it, perhaps, because I can't buy a new one without buying a new copy of Windows, which I already own?
Oh no, it's because I haven't got any money. Certainly not to splash out on something I don't need.
