PC shipments in Western Europe totaled 15.6 million units in the second quarter of 2010, a 19.6 percent increase from the same period in 2009, according to Gartner, Inc. However, the improvement in demand from the professional market was relatively modest due to economic conditions and unit price increases, causing some PC purchases to be delayed.

“Western Europe showed continued growth in the second quarter, recovering quickly from the slowdown seen in the first half of 2009,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. “The PC market has so far defied the general economic downturn, but the real test will be in the second half of 2010, since we saw a stronger second half in 2009.”

“The strong performance in the second quarter of 2010 was partly due to a weak second quarter of 2009. For a better comparison, the PC market in Western Europe grew 6 percent compared with the second quarter of 2008, indicating not only a recovery but good underlying market strength. Economic concerns in several southern European countries (Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece) created uncertainty in the PC market and caused more volatility in the second quarter of 2010, rather than softening overall demand,” said Mr. Atwal.

The consumer market continued to perform significantly above the professional segment, driven by consumer notebooks and expanding sales of all-in-one desktop PCs. Demand for mini-notebooks slowed down, especially in Western Europe. For the first time, mini-notebook growth reached less than 10 percent, below the growth rate of standard mobile PCs. However, the mini-notebook market has established a strong position in the market and represented 19 percent of all mobile PC sales in Western Europe.