Revealing what customers are buying as opposed to what vendors are shipping, figures from CONTEXT covering distributor sales into the European channel for July show that unit sales of PCs excluding tablets were flat compared to July 2010, but that the large price reductions implemented to get rid of unsold inventory resulted in revenues declining 11.7% in the month.
Unit sales of Tablet PCs during July, however, continued to climb, with sales since the beginning of the year increasing every month by approximately 30%, fuelled mainly by demand for the Apple iPad.
Meanwhile, the decline in consumer demand continues to depress desktop and notebook PC sales. Unit sales from distribution into consumer-oriented outlets were down 16.7% in July compared to the same period last year, affecting mainly desktop PCs with unit sales down 28% for the month compared to last year, and notebook sales down 16.2% for the same period.
In contrast, PC unit sales to businesses held up, and actually grew 10.8% during July compared to last year. “The heavy price cuts took their toll on revenues, but these were only down 3.6% in July, compared to a year-on-year decline of 27.8% in sales to consumer outlets”, commented Jeremy Davies, CEO and co-founder of CONTEXT.
About Context
The Context Distribution Panel records over one billion euros a week in technology product sales to resellers serving businesses and consumers across Europe, based on sales reports from seventy of the region's leading national and international broadline and specialist distributors. This Panel benefits from exclusive access to EMEA data from the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC), a international consortium of the IT industry”s leading wholesale distributors. This, coupled with the Panel's strong local representation, provides the most comprehensive and accurate reporting of channel sales out data in Europe.
----
Country break-down
UK
Distributor sales into the UK channel for July show that unit sales of PCs excluding tablets were down 9.2% compared to July 2010, but that the large price reductions implemented to get rid of unsold inventory resulted in revenues declining 9.5% in the month.
Unit sales of Tablet PCs during July, however, continued to climb, with sales in July boosted by HP machines hitting the market.
Unit sales from distribution into consumer-oriented outlets were down 33.1%% in July compared to the same period last year, affecting desktop PCs the same as notebooks.
However, PC unit sales to businesses held up, and actually grew 17.5%% during July compared to last year. The heavy price cuts did not affect business sales, as these were only up 15.9%% in July, compared to a year-on-year decline of 38.2% in sales to consumer outlets.
France
Distributor sales into the France channel for July show that unit sales of PCs excluding tablets were up 6% compared to July 2010, but that the large price reductions implemented to get rid of unsold inventory resulted in revenues declining 13.5% in the month.
Unit sales of Tablet PCs during July, however, continued to climb.
Unit sales from distribution into consumer-oriented outlets were down 24.1%% in July compared to the same period last year, affecting desktop PCs more than notebooks.
However, PC unit sales to businesses held up, and actually grew 20.1%% during July compared to last year. The heavy price cuts did affect business sales revenues however, as these were down 5.8% in July, compared to a year-on-year decline of 30.0% in sales to consumer outlets.
Germany
Distributor sales into the German channel for July show that unit sales of PCs excluding tablets were down 2.3% compared to July 2010, and that the large price reductions implemented to get rid of unsold inventory resulted in revenues declining 11.5% in the month.
Unit sales of Tablet PCs during July, however, continued to climb.
Unit sales from distribution into consumer-oriented outlets were down 5.4%% in July compared to the same period last year, affecting desktop PCs the same as notebooks.
PC unit sales to businesses were also affected, falling 1.2% during July compared to last year. The heavy price cuts did affect business sales revenues however, as these were down 9.5% in July, compared to a year-on-year decline of 18.0% in sales to consumer outlets.
