PC shipments declined by 2.2 percent in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in the second quarter 2002, compared with the same quarter last year, as a result of continued weakness in the market, reported the International Data Corporation (IDC). As anticipated, cautious attitudes continued to prevail in the business sector, while consumer spending slowed further compared with the first quarter.
Competition remained fierce as vendors adopted aggressive pricing strategies in order to stimulate demand and clear inventory. Significant price drops in June only partially helped compensate for a lack of activity in May.
Corporate demand remained very slow and continued to impact vendors’ results as the number of large-scale projects was limited. However, vendors were able to sustain sales to the small and medium business markets, which partially helped limit volume erosion. On the consumer side, demand displayed even weaker trends than in the first quarter.
Demand for notebooks remained healthy, with fierce competition from local players still taking place in the retail channel. Western Europe displayed very similar patterns to those of the first quarter, with a decline of six percent year on year. Eastern Europe continued to record healthy growth at 13 percent, while the Middle East and Africa region displayed another strong quarter with 17 percent growth year on year. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
