In contrast to the global data released by NPD DisplaySearch this week, Meko reported the sales result for Desktop Monitors in Q1 in Europe as a positive one, with the market as a whole up 6.9% over the EMEA territory compared to Q1 2013. It was down quarterly from the busy Christmas period by 9%, but that was a smaller drop than most years. Western Europe was particularly strong, while Eastern Europe was weak.
“We had anticipated a boost in Q1 as a result of corporate refresh before the ending of Microsoft’s end of support for XP in April”, said Bob Raikes, Meko’s Principal and Analyst. “Russian channels have been minimising their purchases and the country was nearly 7% down on the same period last year. In contrast, Western Europe was over 12% up on an annual basis”. MEA was up 14% on last year and 8.6% on Q4 2013, as the region always has less seasonality than the rest of Europe.
Samsung stayed in top place, with LG in second, while Dell squeezed past HP into third place. If MFMs (monitors with tuners) were excluded, Dell took top position.
5:4 aspect ratio monitors, still popular with some corporates and 16:10 monitors remained reasonably firm as panel makers shift their strategy towards revenue maximisation rather than volume. “Better quality panels continue to take share, with IPS steadily increasing in penetration. There has been a big increase in the variety of sizes, aspect ratios and resolutions available. On the one hand that makes life harder for forecasters and those controlling inventories, but on the other hand it is an aid to ASP maintenance”, Raikes added.
