Buoyant Commercial Performance Brings EMEA PC Market Close to Stability in 1Q19

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The Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) traditional PC market (desktops, notebooks, and workstations) declined YoY in 2019Q1 for the second consecutive quarter, but at a softer rate (-2.7% YoY) and totaling 17.0 million units, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). The commercial segment posted healthy growth of 6.0% YoY, with both product categories performing well. The consumer space suffered a heavy decline of 12.6% YoY as both desktops and notebooks fell by double digits.

The Western European traditional PC market registered overall growth of 2.8% YoY as consumer softness (-8.9% YoY) was offset by strong commercial growth (10.7% YoY).

"An exceptional commercial performance kept the Western European PC market afloat," said Liam Hall, senior research analyst, IDC Western Europe Personal Computing. "Despite component shortages and troublesome macroeconomic conditions in some of the major economies, Windows 10 refreshes, ongoing mobility adoption, and the fulfilment of backlogs drummed up a strong commercial appetite that vendors were ultimately able to satiate."

CPU shortages continued to impact supply for low-end models, while shifting consumer buying habits resulted in overall higher levels of inventory which further contributed to the ongoing dismal picture for the overall consumer market. Nevertheless, premium, ultraportable thin and light devices, and gaming continued to provide a pocket of growth as vendors shift priority away from volume in favor of maximizing profitability.

"The traditional PC market in the CEMA region performed better than anticipated, posting results of -12% YoY. Both regions contracted in double digits, but contrary to the forecast, CEE recorded worse results than MEA. Consumer demand in both regions decreased by double digits, versus a single-digit decline for commercial," said Stefania Lorenz, associate VP, CEMA. "Africa, accounting for around a 40% share of the total MEA, continues to outperform the Middle East subregion as Central Africa and North Africa show good momentum, as does the Sub-Saharan region. The Middle East remains afflicted by the turbulence in the Rest of Middle East region, as well as currency instability in Turkey."

"Following over a year of positive market results, the CEE region contracted by 10.5% YoY," said Nikolina Jurisic, product manager, IDC CEMA. "Russian PC shipments were mostly affected by the inventory build-up during the previous couple of quarters, especially in the consumer space. Ukraine and the CIS countries were inhibited by a lack of projects, while a CPU shortage influencing mostly low-performance PCs negatively affected consumer demand. The Central part of the region overall performed slightly better, thanks to some visible recovery in Poland and Czech Republic."

Vendor Highlights

Traditional PC market consolidation continued, and the top 3 vendors' share continued to grow in 2019Q1. The top 3 players accounted for 68.3% of total market volume, compared with 65.5% in 2018Q1.

• HP Inc. retained the top spot in EMEA, gaining 0.2% points YoY to reach 28.9% market share. It registered an overall decline of 2.2% YoY, as healthy commercial growth could not offset the double-digit decline in consumer.
• Lenovo (including Fujitsu) ranked second, reporting 24.5% market share (an increase of 1.2% YoY). This growth was boosted by an exceptionally strong commercial performance, supported by healthy growth for Fujitsu. ​
• Dell Inc. secured third place with a market share of 14.9% (up 1.5% YoY). The vendor achieved the strongest growth rate of the top vendors (+8.0% YoY), registering double-digit growth across both product categories in the commercial space. ​
• Acer retained fourth position with 7.0% market share (down 0.9% YoY). A strong focus on the consumer market made Acer more susceptible to its softness, leading to an overall decline of 13.9% YoY.
• ASUS claimed fifth spot with a share of 6.5% (down 1.0% YoY). As with Acer, consumer softness inhibited growth prospects for the vendor, leading to an overall decline of 14.6% YoY.