Notebook sales up 74% YoY in Western Europe reports the IDC

The IDC reports that the traditional PC market (which excludes detachable tablets and slate table) continued to grow gangbusters in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) market, with the 4th quarter of consecutive double-digit growth.

A total of 23.9 million units were sold in Q1 2021, up 44.1% YoY.

In Western Europe, where 12.6 million units were sold, the bulk of the growth was due to the notebook market, which grew 74.2% YoY, while desktop sales plunged 21%.

Around half of those were sold to consumers (6.3 million units) with sales up 75.6% to that market. Surprisingly, besides selling lots of notebooks to consumers, desktop sales to consumers were also up 46.6% YoY, due to a boost in gaming desktop sales.

“This substantial notebook performance can be partially attributed to strong demand in the commercial segment,” said Simon Thomas, research analyst for IDC Western European Personal Computing Devices. “The ongoing demand for devices to support remote work and education due to extended lockdowns primarily contributed to the substantial growth, despite persisting supply constraints”, he added. The overall commercial market in Western Europe enjoyed a solid growth of 26.0% YoY, primarily boosted by another buoyant quarter in education and small and medium businesses.

In the Central and Eastern European market (CEE) the overall PC market grew by 53.1%, with strong performances in the commercial market (+33.3% YoY), and consumer (+69.1% YoY). Similar to Western Europe, continued education deals in addition to consumer demand for work from home and entertainment devices has bolstered the market significantly.

“As expected, the PC market reported another record growth, especially when compared to a relatively weaker 2020Q1. Both regions, CEE and MEA reported annual growth of 53.1% and 43.1% respectively, with double-digit growth achieved in both form factors, notebooks, and desktops also the demand was strong in both the commercial and consumer. In the CEE region the consumer grew by 69.1% YoY fueled by the ongoing demand and the push from vendors to fill up shelf-space and the low inventory in the market.” Said Stefania Lorenz, IDC EMEA “The commercial sector continues to be driven by education deals across both regions” she added.

Vendor Highlights:

The consolidation of the traditional PC market continues to slow, as the top 5 vendors’ share decreases in 2021Q1. The top 5 players accounted for 80.5% of total market volume, falling from 82.4% in 2020Q1.

• HP Inc. regains its position as PC market leader in EMEA, with a 25.8% market share (down 0.6% points YoY). The vendor saw an impressive YoY growth of 41.2%, driven by double-digit performances in both segments.
• Lenovo (including Fujitsu) fell to second position, holding 25.0% market share (-1.2% points YoY). The vendor loses first position, despite solid growth in consumer (+61.8% YoY) and commercial (+27.3% YoY).
• Dell Inc. maintained third position in the EMEA PC market, with 13.9% market share (down 2.6% points YoY). Despite its fall in share, the vendor enjoyed growth of 21.5% YoY, thanks to double-digit growth in consumer and commercial.
• Acer kept its position in fourth, with 8.5% market share (up 2.1% points YoY). Continued strength in consumer and education markets resulted in impressive growth in commercial (+71.9% YoY) and consumer (+97.1% YoY).
• • ASUS maintained fifth position and posted a 7.3% market share (+ 0.3% points YoY). A strong performance in both segments resulted in a 49.9% YoY growth but was not enough to catch up with its closest competitor.

Read the full report at the IDC here.