The EMEA traditional PC (desktop, notebook and workstation) market shows "stable growth" in Q1 2018, IDC reports-- the result of positive performance across both notebook and desktop categories.

According to the analyst, continued mobility adoption and increased customer awareness of the value proposition of premium devices helped maintain the growth trajectory of notebooks. Meanwhile the gaming market and commercial device refreshes in certain sub-regions drive "strong" desktop results.

According to Gartner, EMEA PC shipments see some growth in Q1 2018-- specifically by 1.7% Y-o-Y, to total 18.6 million units, thanks to the enterprises starting implement "many" previously delayed Windows 10 projects.

Further boosting hardware growth, at least from the enterprise side, is the fast approach of the compliance deadline for the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). One also has to keep in mind reports of cybersecurity breaches making security a strong priority in the hardware refresh cycle. Eurasia remains a bright spot in EMEA, as Q1 2018 demand is strong in countries such as Russia, Ukrain and Kazakshtan.

Apple plans to drop Intel chips from Macs starting from around 2020, Bloomberg reports-- with the replacement being Apple-developed processors, part of an initiative dubbed "Kalamata."

According to anonymous "people familiar with the plans," Kalamata is a strategy to make all Apple devices (such as Macs, iPhones and iPads) work more similarly and seamlessly together, leading to a more tightly integrated Apple ecosystem. The initiative is reportedly already approved, and probably involves a "multi-step transition."

The channel dominates the 2017 infrastructure market, Canalys reports, making 74% of global shipments in a record year with revenues worth $142 billion, a 7% increase over 2016.

Server revenues are up by 12.2% to $66bn, networking is up by 4.3% to $50bn and storage sees 1.6% growth to $26bn. Driving revenues are rising DRAM component costs and increasing demand for higher server specfiications, leading to ASPs increasing faster than unit shipments. In addition, datacentres are growing due to hyperscale cloud server demand, as well as the the start of a new enterprise refresh cycle following the launch of next generation Intel and AMD processors.