Notebooks drag PC sales out the toilet, fondleslabs still falling

The PC market bounced back in the first quarter of 2015, mainly thanks to a big uplift in notebook sales.

According to research from tech distribution sales data compiled by Context, the market rose by seven per cent on the year.

Notebook sales were up 26 per cent to 644,304, while desktop sales remained flat at 237,700, and tablet sales dropped by 11 per cent to 403,307.

However, despite an overall increase in units, revenue fell 7.9 per cent to £368.8m due to some significant price cuts.

Lachlan Welsh, analyst at Context, said the overall increase in sales was due to the Microsoft with Bing effect — the new licensing option which has led to a fall in prices.

"If it weren't for the price cutting technique, we would expect it to be a flat market," he said.

He said tablet sales will continue to decrease because of their longer-than-expected lifecycle.

Despite the overall drop in tablet sales, Windows-based devices rose by 244 per cent to 17,015. Context said this is because the average cost per device fell from £325 to £182.

In contrast, Android tablets fell 34 per cent on the previous year, while iOS devices fell by 6 per cent.

Welsh said the next quarter is likely to see a shift back to mid market sales, as the cheaper systems pass through the distribution channel. ®