IDC reports EMEA PC shipments total 23.7 million units with 10.4% growth during Q3 2014-- a "clear return to growth" following a difficult 2013, with shipments driven by the mature W. European markets.
Back-to-school shipments, Christmas season preparation and attractively priced Windows 8.1+ Bing notebooks are driving portable PC demand, as the segment posts 13.5% Y-o-Y growth. Desktop PCs also show growth (5.2%).
W. European shipments are up by 22.7% Y-o-Y, while CEE remains impacted by an unstable political and economical situation, leading to declines of -9% Y-o-Y and MEA shows positive 2% Y-o-Y growth-- all signs of a market rebound and "strong" renewals on both consumer and enterprise markets, even if IDC hesitates to call this a recovery due to volumes not being as high as previous strong years.
"The rebound is clear and consumers' renewed interest in portable PCs is encouraging," IDC says. "Even if the differences between W. Europe and CEMA persist for obvious political and economic reasons, there are some common drivers, especially on the consumer side. Inventory levels appear higher overall in the supply chain but, in line with higher expectations after a good back-to-school period, retailers and etailers are more confident about the holiday season business."
Commercial PC demand is strong, with shipments growing by 12.5% Y-o-Y in W. Europe. Meanwhile S. European markets previously hit by the economic and financial crisis are showing signs of recovery, as shipments show 40% growth in Spain and 30% growth in Greece, Portugal and Italy. In comparison French growth is limited, Germany outperforms the W. European average and the UK is in line with European results.
When it comes to vendor rankings, IDC says Q3 2014 shows more market consolidation, with the top 3 vendors accounting for 50% of volume and the top 5 for over 70%. HP leads with 20.9% share and 16.8% Y-o-Y growth thanks to a strong consumer product offering, followed by an expectations-beating Lenovo (19.4% share, 43.7% Y-o-Y growth) and Acer (9.7% share, 37.3% Y-o-Y growth).
Dell comes in 4th place due to its missing the consumer rebound and failing to leverage its commercial strength, and Asus retains 5th place through solid portable PC results. In non-top 5 vendors Apple ranks 6th with positive consumer results in W. Europe, Toshiba posts "limited" growth, Fujitsu comes 8th following a difficult quarter, MSI is 9th and Wortmann takes 10th place.
