Following the moderate trends in 2006, the Western European PC market experienced a healthy rebound in 2007, as overall PC shipments increased by 11.9% year on year to over 56 million units. However, while the market continued to expand in unit terms, the overall PC market value was adversely impacted and recorded a 4.7% decline year on year, due to a -14.9% drop in euro ASP levels.

2007 proved to be a strong year for the notebook industry, with increasing vendor push and intensifying competitive and pricing pressure driving further adoption and accelerating renewal of the notebook installed base across the region. As a result, in 2007 notebook shipments overtook desktop shipments in Western Europe for the first time. Displaying a year-on-year increase of 29.7%, overall notebook shipment volumes reached closed to 31 million units, versus just over 25 million desktops, which represents a 4.1% decline versus last year.

"Expansion of the Western European PC market is not expected to slow down, therefore IDC's outlook for 2008 remains positive with growth forecast to reach 11.0% year on year," said Eszter Morvay, senior research analyst for IDC's EMEA PC research group. "Market dynamics will remain driven by sustained notebook demand, boosting overall notebook shipments by 22.0%. However, the desktop market is expected to shrink further by -2.6%, directly impacted by the ongoing transition to mobility particularly in the consumer and SMB segments. Market consolidation will continue to drive a fierce competitive environment, with vendors deploying aggressive pricing to gain market share and stimulate volumes. Unabated pricing pressure will lead to a further squeeze in margins, encouraging vendors to continue the optimization of the supply chain."