Research company GfK has found that sales of IT products in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK fell by 1.3% in the first six months of the year. It says desktop computers and mobile PCs are particularly affected, while media tablets are still increasing in popularity.
GfK’s figures show that the main focus in the first half of 2012 has been on mobile devices and unrestricted internet access. Ultra-portable notebook sales were up 36.7% and e-reader sales were up 93.3%, while sales of media tablets increased by 142%. Private customers accounted for most of these purchases, although businesses accounted for more than 13% of tablet sales in H1 2012.
Financial uncertainty across Europe is expected to cause IT sales figures to fall slightly in the second half of 2012 despite an anticipated boost from the launch of Windows 8.