01732 759725 08 employing between one and 50 people, retailers should court business customers that typically generate significantly higher transaction values and purchase more frequently than retail consumers. He said: “Retailers that continue to focus predominantly on entry-level consumer devices risk leaving significant margin on the table. Those that evolve their proposition towards business buyers have a real opportunity to capture this growing market.” One retailer already doing this is Currys, which plans to double its B2B revenues over three years, expand the dedicated Business Hubs within its stores and offer services such as business account management, flexible payment terms and technology leasing to better serve SME customers. www.contextworld.com In the UK, commercial ASPs averaged €821 (32.8% above retail). James Bates, Senior Retail Analyst at CONTEXT, said: “The analysis clearly shows that SMEs are purchasing differently from consumers. When a 15-person agency or independent consultant invests in technology, they’re buying for productivity, security and longevity rather than looking for the cheapest option.” This trend is being driven by factors such as rising demand for commercialgrade security and compliance features; increased investment in devices capable of supporting hybrid working; growing adoption of AI-ready PCs and higherperformance hardware; and longer refresh cycles requiring greater durability and lifecycle services. Bates adds that with a UK addressable opportunity of £9 billion in businesses European technology retailers are at risk of missing a significant commercial opportunity by continuing to treat SMEs as consumer buyers, warns global market intelligence firm CONTEXT. Its analysis reveals a widening gap between the Average Selling Price (ASP) in the traditional retail channel and the ASP in the Small and Medium Reseller (SMR) channels, indicative of a structural shift towards higher-value business technology purchases by SMEs. Across Europe, notebook ASPs in the SMR channel averaged €835 in the first half of 2026, compared with €663 in traditional retail, representing a price premium of 26%. Between January and June 2026, that premium rose from 16.6% to almost 34%, highlighting growing demand for higher-specification business devices. Retailers risk missing out as SMEs trade up to premium hardware MARKET RESEARCH use. The strength of all-in-one bars is a good example of that shift. Rather than a broad refresh across every collaboration category, investment is increasingly going towards technologies that can deliver an immediate improvement to the hybrid meeting experience.” There are also pronounced differences between regions. Eastern Europe delivered 18% year-on-year UC&C revenue growth in Q2, compared with a flat performance in Western Europe. This follows an equally sharp divergence in Q1, when Eastern Europe grew 6% while Western Europe declined 3%. Gaudin added: “The geographical picture reinforces how fragmented the market has become. There are still clear opportunities for vendors and channel partners, but growth cannot be assumed across UC&C as a whole. The strongest opportunities are emerging around specific technologies, use cases and markets. For the channel, understanding exactly where customers are still prepared to invest will be increasingly important through the second half of the year.” months of 2026. Businesses have had limited budget available for peripherals, while a slowdown in the refresh cycle has added further pressure to the category. At the same time, video collaboration is providing a clear area of growth. Sales of all-in-one video bars have been particularly strong and are boosting the standalone camera segment. In June, revenues for all-in-one bars were 95% higher year-on-year, following a 127% increase in April. Compact cameras returned to 5% growth in June after declining 17% in May, while 360-degree/ PTZ products grew 19% in June. Fragmented market Rémi Gaudin, Business Data and Market Analyst at CONTEXT, said: “The UC&C market is not moving in one direction. Businesses are clearly being more selective about where they invest. We are seeing pressure on mature categories such as headsets and IP phones, while video continues to attract spending, particularly where products make meeting rooms simpler to deploy and easier to Europe’s Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) market is becoming increasingly polarised, with strong growth in video and camera technologies contrasting with weaker demand for established workplace categories such as headsets and display systems, according to the latest data from global market intelligence firm CONTEXT. CONTEXT’s market review of Western European distribution sales through Week 31 of 2026 tracks collaboration headsets, cameras, speakers, microphones, room systems, IP phones, display systems, conference solutions and accessories. The divergence was particularly evident in Q2 when collaboration video revenues increased 18% year-on-year and collaboration cameras grew 7%, helped by a strong surge in Poland that lifted the European figures. In contrast, collaboration headset revenues fell 7%, display systems declined 2% and IP phones were down 3%. Conference accessories were up 1%. The weakness in headsets follows subdued investment during the opening European UC&C market splits as video surges and headsets struggle Currys is courting SMEs with enhanced support for business customers
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