Volume sales of PCs (desktops, notebooks, workstations) through Western Europe's largest distributors continued to decline at -2.4% in Q1 2017 compared to the same period one year ago.
Revenues, however, increased +8.3% due to a shift in sales to higher value products, according to latest data published by Context, the market research company.
This was most noticeable in the UK where a 10% drop in sales was translated into a 14.6% rise in revenue in local currency.
"Revenue growth was driven by a significant rise in distributors' average sell prices for the quarter", said Marie-Christine Pygott, senior analyst at Context. "Across the entire Western European region, average selling prices were up by +11% to €553 compared to Q1 2016. Across just the eurozone countries, ASPs for the quarter rose +7.3% to €535. "
Context says that average selling prices in the PC segment have been on the rise since Q3 2016, driven by currency fluctuations, the effects of recent component shortages on pricing, and by a unit-mix shift to higher value products such as gaming systems in the consumer segment and powerful high-end notebooks in the commercial sector.