EMEA PC Market Remains Positive In 2021Q2, Despite Commercial Slowdown And Lifting Of Lockdowns: IDC

By Emmanuel Oluebube, Correspondent UK

The Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) traditional PC market, (desktop, notebooks, and workstations) saw growth of 6.5 per cent YoY in 2021Q2 — a total of 22.2 million units, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). Unfavorable growth rates versus 2020Q2 — the first full quarter propelled by COVID demand — makes 2021Q2 appear slightly weaker than other COVID-hit quarters, despite strong unit shipments overall.
The Western European PC market posted growth of 6.5 per cent YoY. Desktops grew by 6.2 per cent YoY, their recovery attributed to continued demand for gaming devices during lockdowns, for consumers looking to entertain themselves and socialize online with friends. Notebook growth (+6.6% YoY) has slowed down, after four consecutive quarters of double-digit growth. Similar to PC shipments for overall EMEA, Western European notebook shipments are in line with recent quarters, but the large growth rates of last year make for unfavorable comparisons.
“The supply issues concerning a range of crucial components continue to limit shipments in the Western European market,” said research analyst for IDC Western European Personal Computing Devices, Simon Thomas. “This, combined with partial relaxing of lockdowns and a return to seasonality, has slowed the rapid growth seen in recent quarters.”
Consumer growth in Western Europe softened from last quarter, posting a rise of 18.6 per cent YoY, with 6.3 million units shipped. Despite quarter-on-quarter declines, both desktops and notebooks enjoyed double-digit growth compared with last year (+36.1% YoY and +15.5% YoY respectively). This is due to prioritization of fulfillment of demand from consumer channels, as there is higher flexibility in adoption of PCs of varied specifications as opposed to commercial segments.
In the Western European commercial market, there was a decline of -0.8 per cent YoY in 2021Q2. The desktop fall of -7.3 per cent YoY was its fifth consecutive quarter of decline, and was not offset by notebooks, which posted flattish growth of 0.7 per cent YoY. A recovery in desktops is expected in the second half of 2021, as businesses equip more employees who are returning to the office for longer periods of time.
Overall PC shipments in CEE and MEA were inhibited by the supply issues and by ongoing component shortages, with both regions reporting single-digit increases of 5.6 per cent YoY and 7.7 per cent YoY respectively. “In the CEE region, the commercial segment reported a decline of -1.8 per cent YoY. Some of the education deals could not be fulfilled due to availability issues, and they are expected to be shipped later in the year. The consumer sector remained relatively strong at 11.1 per cent YoY growth. Inventory in a few countries is improving but is still below the comfortable zone. However, the MEA region reported positive commercial results at 16.1 per cent YoY and consumer remained flat YoY,” said associate research director, IDC Europe, Nikolina Jurisic.
Vendor Highlights
The consolidation of the traditional PC market slowed again, as the top 5 vendors’ share decreased in 2021Q2. The top 5 players accounted for 80.4 per cent of total market volume, falling slightly from 80.5 per cent in 2021Q1.
Lenovo (including Fujitsu) regained first position, with a market share of 25.8 per cent (+0.2% points YoY). The vendor saw overall growth of 5.5 per cent, due to a positive performance in both segments.
HP Inc. fell to second position, with a market share of 24.3 per cent (-4.3% points YoY). Despite growth on the consumer side (+2.4% YoY), a commercial decline (-17.4% YoY) due to component supply issues resulted in HP posting a decline of -11.2 per cent YoY overall.
Dell Inc. kept third position, with a market share of 13.5 per cent (+0.4% points YoY) and growth of 8 per cent YoY. A good commercial performance (+16.4% YoY) offset a slump on the consumer side, where it declined by -36.3 per cent YoY.
Acer maintained fourth place, with a market share of 9.6 per cent (+1.5% points YoY). Another solid performance in the consumer market (+23.1% YoY) resulted in the vendor posting 23.9 per cent YoY growth overall.
• ASUS retained fifth position, with a market share of 7.4 per cent (+0.2% points YoY). Its 6.8 per cent YoY rise can be attributed to consumer growth of 9 per cent YoY.