The commercial space grew 4.9% on year as ongoing device renewals continued and the adoption of Windows 10 picked up, while the consumer space remained in decline at 4.1% on year, recording a decrease in both desktops and notebooks. Desktops declined for the first time this year at 2.4% on year, but continued to grow in the commercial space. A stable notebook performance at 1.4% on-year growth kept the market in positive territory, as mobility adoption and renewals continue to drive demand in the commercial space.

The Western European traditional PC market registered overall growth of 2% on year, with the commercial segment continuing to show strong growth at 8.3% on year, offsetting the impact of the consumer decline at 5.5% on year. The overall consumer decline can be attributed primarily to desktop, where erosion persisted, while notebook also continued to decline, albeit at a softer rate. On the commercial side, ongoing device renewals in the midmarket space, as well as growing Windows 10 adoption, continued to drive growth in this segment. Being a back-to-school quarter, education undoubtedly contributed to this growth. From a sub-regional perspective, the Nordics, DACH, and UKI were strong performers this quarter, but Benelux recorded the strongest results, boosted by strong double-digit growth in the commercial space.

"In Western Europe, renewals continued to affect the commercial space positively, despite the impact of the component shortage, especially on the CPU side," said Laura Llames, research analyst, IDC Western Europe Personal Computing. "All the subregions performed well in this space, with Benelux and DACH leading the rally."

Despite the negative performance in the consumer PC market in Western Europe, ultramobile, thin and light, and 2-in-1 devices continue to elicit consumer interest, softening the overall notebook decline as the holiday season approaches. Gaming, while not substantial in volume, persists in providing a strong pocket of growth in this segment.

"The third quarter of the year reported surprising results given the different dynamics in the CEE and MEA regions," said Stefania Lorenz associate VP CEMA. "The traditional PC market in the CEMA region reported a contraction of 2.4% on year. The MEA dragged the overall region to negative results due to the worst decline recorded in Turkey as the market dropped by nearly 60% on year. The country is facing major challenges with currency fluctuation as well as economic uncertainty affecting all commercial sectors."

"Contrary to the strong decline in MEA, the CEE region reported better than expected results, increasing 7.1% on year," said Nikolina Jurisic, product manager, IDC CEMA. "Behind the overall success is Russia reporting double-digit growth. Despite all the uncertainty about sanctions and fluctuation of the ruble, the country's economy remained stable with low inflation during the quarter. Demand continued to be strong thanks to few large deals in the corporate and public sector and with retailers already purchasing for the year-end holiday season."

Vendor highlights

The traditional PC market consolidation persisted, and the top-3 vendors' shares continued to grow in the third quarter of 2018. The top-3 players accounted for 64.2% of total market volume, compared with 61.3% in the third quarter of 2017.

HP held on to number one position in EMEA, gaining 0.5pp on year to reach 27.4% market share. Solid results across both segments helped maintain the company's leadership position.

Lenovo (including Fujitsu) once again secured the second spot, reporting 23.9% market share, an increase of 1pp on year. Particularly strong notebook performance in the commercial space supported its overall results.

Dell retained third place with a market share of 13%, up 1.5pp on year. Dell had an exceptional quarter, with double-digit growth across both segments attributing to their strong growth in market share.

Acer came fourth in the overall ranking with 9% market share, up 0.8pp on year. A solid performance in the shrinking consumer market, and an exceptional commercial performance, aided by back to school, drove this growth.

Apple crept into fifth with 7.3% market share, down 0.6pp on year. Despite a decline, Apple outperformed Asustek Computer, which continued to erode in the EMEA market.

Source: IDC, compiled by Digitimes, October 2018