PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
UK PC sales in the fourth quarter continued to grow at a rapid pace, despite a rising dollar, on-going recession and stalling shipments worldwide.
According to figures released by IDC, more than 3.8 million PCs were sold during the fourth quarter, an increase of 13.3 per cent on the same time in 2007.
However, IDC warned that much of this growth had been fuelled by huge cuts in average selling prices of 33 per cent compared to the same time last year. This meant that despite continued growth in the double figures, the total value of the market only grew 7.8 per cent to 1.84bn.
"We had thought the strength of the US dollar would have halted ASP decline but competition has been so fierce that vendor keep pushing hard," IDC research manager Eszter Morvay told MicroScope, adding that she was certain it would continue into this year.
The figure was lessened netbooks were taken out of the equation, with the average selling price of laptops and desktops falling 23 per cent.
However, desktops continued to be hit hard by the general transition towards laptops. According to IDC’s figures, desktops saw a 14.2 per cent decline in value to £504m. That was in contrast to revenue from the laptop market, which grew 19.2 per cent to £1.34bn.
Unit sales also were hit hard, with consumer demand for desktops collapsing 32 per cent compared to last year to 355,000. However, retail sales of laptops soared 60 per cent to 1.76m units.
