The European desktop PC segment in comparison has a relatively slower rate of growth and presents lower revenues overall. Signs of a small decline were already present in Italy, where computer device sales to consumers measured 293,800 units for desktop PCs in 2015, compared to 2.4 million for tablets and 1.3 million for notebooks. The number of desktop PCs and notebooks sold on the consumer market in Germany also suggests a higher interest among consumers for notebooks and other portable devices.
Positive performance overall can be seen in other countries as well in terms of sales and ownership. In the UK computer and telecommunications retail sales were at 367 million British pounds in the month of August 2016. Regarding the willingness to buy a new device, the share of UK consumers intending to buy a laptop was higher among younger generations, with 19 percent of individuals aged between 18 and 24 years interested in buying in the next twelve months compared to 13 percent of respondents between 35 and 44 years of age. In Italy the total value of computer, electronic products in 2015 reached 11.6 billion euros.
The desktop operating system market in Italy is also interesting to observe, as Windows 7 leads over Windows 10. A similar trend can be observed in Norway, where Win7 also holds the largest market share of leading desktop operating systems, followed by Win10 and OS X. Similarly Win7 held the largest share of the desktop operating system market in Sweden in the same year, but not in neighboring Denmark.
