Laptop sales growth peters out in Europe

After a year of surging growth, sales of laptops in Europe are slowing down abruptly.

The latest figures measuring the seven largest markets in Europe show sales up 17.5 per cent in May compared with the same month last year.

While such growth is solid, it is down from an annual increase of 37.3 per cent measured in January, according to Context's SalesWatch tracker.

In February this year, sales in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK hit a year-on-year growth high of 42.2 per cent.

Now the researchers are warning preliminary figures for June put growth at 9.9 per cent, representing a further slowdown.

The leading vendors of the notebook PC form-factor remain relatively unchanged. Last year saw an exceptional surge in sales, with some experts pointing to the refresh cycle and a move to Wi-Fi-equipped machines as reasons.