Mobile computer sales excel in Europe
Latest findings from GfK's retail panel
Nuremberg, January 25 - Development within the Mobile Computer market in 2011 (January – November) was positive in Europe. The B2B sector performed particularly well and was able to record growing sales and turnover in 2011 compared to 2010. In total, in Western Europe (WEU)*, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)** and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)*** 12% more mobile computers were sold.
In Western Europe, this positive trend was largely down to a replacement demand for mobile computers as business clients replaced existing notebooks in their company. This process had already begun with the introduction of the operating system Microsoft Windows 7, and continued in 2010 and 2011.
Also, in the beginning of 2012 the B2B market will most likely be positive in Europe but the replacement cycle will flatten slightly; most countries in Western Europe have shown this positive trend. Only Great Britain, Spain, Italy and Belgium did not follow this trend, because the sales in this countries were declining in B2B in 2011 (January-November).
B2B market situation for mobile computers differs completely to B2C
The B2B market situation for mobile computers differs completely to B2C. The household penetration of mobile computers in Western Europe is very high which means in many private households, notebooks already exist, making it difficult for these products to record higher sales year by year. In 2011 (January – November), the B2C sector in Western Europe sold approximately the same number of mobile computers as in 2010 - the turnover was negative within this comparison period. The mobile computer market in Western Europe is clearly affected by saturation effects and seasonal movements, with positive impulses coming at the end of the year during the Christmas period.
In CEE and CIS, the growth in B2C sector is much stronger compared to Western Europe as Notebooks have not reached the same household penetration level. This means sales turnovers in these regions are growing year by year. Russia is proving to be the best performing country at the moment as is followed by Poland and Ukraine.
The retail sales data for this Information Technology industry news originates from GfK market research 2012.
Further information: Dr. Rudolf Aunkofer, rudolf.aunkofer@gfk.com, +49 911 395-2282
* Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
**Czech, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria
***Russia, Ukraine
About GfK
GfK is one of the world’s largest research companies, with 11,000 experts working to discover new insights about the way people live, think and shop, in over 100 markets, every day. GfK is constantly innovating to use the latest technologies and the smartest methodologies to give its clients the clearest understanding of the most important people in the world: their customers. In 2010, GfK’s sales amounted to EUR 1.29 billion.
To find out more, visit www.gfkrt.com or follow GfK on Twitter: www.twitter.com/gfk_group
back