IT research firm IDC has said that the German PC market contracted more strongly than anticipated in the first quarter of 2011.
IDC said PC shipments contracted by 10.8% year-on-year in 1Q11, versus forecast at +4.9%. Consumer PC shipments plunged by 22.8% year-on-year.
The company said that despite a strong economy, PC sales were hurt by high levels of inventory carried over from 4Q10, coupled with weak consumer demand and cautious commercial investments.
Accumulated inventory build-up due to a weak performance in the second half of 2010, further deteriorated following poor "sell out" during the Christmas period, said IDC. As a result, extremely high inventory levels were carried over into 1Q11.
Consumer demand remained poor because of competition from smartphones and media tablets. The most impacted product category remained mini notebooks.
The commercial segment remained positive in 1Q11, posting 6.4% growth year-on year, while the SMB segment recorded more moderate growth, compared to enterprise.
Among vendors, HP posted the highest growth at 2.4% in 1Q11, outgrowing the total PC market in Germany. Acer returned to second place and Asus remained in third place. Dell posted a decline of 14.5%, while Medion moved up to fifth place.
IDC predicts the German PC market to remain constrained in 2011, because of sustained high levels of stock in the distribution and retail channels.
