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title: PC growth unabated in January 2021 as pandemic continues to drive mobile demand
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London, 26 February 2021 – The strong growth in PC sales seen in 2020 continued unabated at the start of 2021 as demand for mobile PCs...

| View in browser PC growth unabated in January 2021 as pandemic continues to drive mobile demand   London, 26 February 2021 – The strong growth in PC sales seen in 2020 continued unabated at the start of 2021 as demand for mobile PCs remained high, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.   Despite the trading period in January 2021 being two days short of January last year, PC volume sales through Western Europe’s largest distributors increased by +20% year-on-year during the month, following a rise of +21% in Q4 2020. Growth was once more driven by notebooks, sales of which were up by +46% as distributors continued to fulfil large tenders from education and public administration. In addition, the extension of lockdown measures in many countries meant that demand for devices which enable working from home, e-learning, and connecting to friends and family stayed high.   The picture for desktops was, once again, entirely different: following a −21% drop in Q4 2020, volume sales declined by −38% year-on-year in January.   Commercial channels, which include sales to the education segment, saw the greatest increase in laptop volumes. In January, notebook sales to these channels were up by +59% year-on-year, while those of desktops dropped by −47%.  In consumer channels, the performance of notebooks was weaker, growing by +28%, but that of desktops was better, growing by +2% when compared to the same month in the previous year.   Countries with high institutional education demand saw the strongest notebook growth. These included the UK (+120%), Italy (+106%) and Spain (+58%). In France, notebook sales grew by +24% but there was a −2% drop in Germany, a country which was heavily impacted by the product supply issues that remained a challenge across the region and continued to cause fluctuations in performance. Some of the growth registered in early 2021 was driven by fulfilment of orders placed much earlier in 2020. Supply issues are expected to continue to affect the market for quite some time – at least for the first half of the year. Y/Y PC volume growth: Western European distribution Y/Y notebook volume growth: Western European distribution Join The Social CONTEXT    Join our live webinar series with guest speakers for a chance to network and discuss trending industry topics. Friday, 12th March 11:00 - 11:45 Reflections on the Future Alex Tatham Managing Director at WestCoast Register now CONTEXT, Dial House, 2 Burston Road, London, Greater London SW15 6AR, United Kingdom Unsubscribe Manage preferences Privacy notice |
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