IDC: EMEA PC Market Stabilized in Third Quarter 2016

IDC: EMEA PC Market Stabilized in Third Quarter 2016
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PC shipments in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) performed above expectations, reaching 17.9 million units and posting a 3.3% YoY decrease in 2016Q3, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). Notebook shipments increased by 0.7%, supported by interest in new thin and light solutions from Western European enterprises and by political stabilization in the Middle East and Africa.

Also in this quarter EMEA continued to be affected by uncertainties, such as exchange rate fluctuations, currency weaknesses, and political instabilities including Brexit talks. Despite these challenges, commercial notebook shipments remained strong, growing 5.6% in EMEA compared with 2015Q3. Contrarily, consumer notebooks decreased 2.6% in the region.

"The PC market continued to be differentiated in EMEA, with only one common trend: a decline in desktops," said Andrea Minonne, research analyst, IDC EMEA Personal Computing. "Although desktops registered again negative results and demand was low across EMEA, notebooks performed differently across all subregions. Once again, the Western European commercial market performed positively in 2016Q3, thanks to increasing adoption of notebooks in response to enterprise mobility needs.

The planned increase of panel prices for notebooks before the end of 2016 drove notebook orders up earlier for year-end business. This resulted in some cases in shortages. Overall, the large shipment volumes are expected to contribute to a buildup in stock. Inventories will be monitored in the coming months. The Windows 10 anniversary edition did not seem to have a significant impact on renewals. Chrome, despite being marginal, is performing well for the second quarter in a row. The back-to-school season together with the upcoming Black Friday in late November and Christmas holidays contributed to shipment uplift and stock intakes rose, but desktops in EMEA continued to contract by 10.6%. This confirmed the continuous erosion in profit for more mobile solutions. The bankruptcy of Hanjin, a South Korean shipping company, had an impact on shipments from some PC vendors. However, Western Europe seems to be only marginally affected.

Notebooks performed well in both Western Europe and the Middle East and Africa, increasing respectively by 1.0% and 14.5%, but registered a 10.2% decline in Central and Eastern Europe. In Western Europe, the consumer market continued to be a challenging segment. Many factors related to price increases and market uncertainty are leading price-sensitive consumers to extend the lifespan of their devices. But preferences are evolving towards thin and light solutions, especially for back-to-school, Black Friday, or the Christmas holidays. In 2016Q3 the PC landscape continued to be varied and highly fragmented in Western Europe. The aftershocks of the Brexit vote were more tangible in 2016Q3, with the pound weakening and with some PC vendors announcing price increases. U.K. and Ireland faced challenges, especially in the commercial segment. Overall, Sweden and Italy posted higher YoY PC growth, which was supported by the strong performance of commercial notebooks. The other Mediterranean countries (Greece, Portugal, and Spain) performed below market average and continued to be challenged by slow market rebound. In particular, political instabilities are affecting Spain, where a fully empowered government has not been formed for a few quarters. Contrarily, the Nordics continued to post growth and performed strongly in the commercial segment. Germany did not show dramatic changes compared with last year and remained overall flattish.

"The Central European market suffered the most: Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia all reported a double-digit declines compared with 2015Q3," said Nikolina Jurisic, product manager, IDC CEMA. "In 2015, during the crisis in Russia and the CIS, vendors focused their market strategies towards the Central European markets and pushed large volumes into the channels across the countries. However, what is becoming clear is that the inventory and stock situation in some of these countries is affecting sales-in, as demand remained low. In contrast, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine performed reasonably well. Russia, in line with the forecast, remained negative at -7.0% YoY".

 

Top 5 Vendors: Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) PC Shipments*

2016Q3 (Preliminary) (000 Units)

 

Vendor

2015Q3 Shipments

2016Q3 Shipments

2015Q3 Share

2016Q3 Share

2015Q3-2016Q3 Growth

HP Inc

4,352

4,635

23.6%

26.0%

6.5%

Lenovo

3,685

3,593

20.0%

20.1%

-2.5%

Dell

1,863

1,942

10.1%

10.9%

4.3%

ASUS

1,514

1,839

8.2%

10.3%

21.4%

Acer Group

1,764

1,705

9.6%

9.6%

-3.4%

Others

5,290

4,140

28.6%

23.2%

-21.7%

Total

18,469

17,854

100.0%

100.0%

-3.3%

Source: IDC