The consumer PC market surged across Europe in the first two weeks of September, according to research released today.

GfK published the buoyant sales estimates for the period, which traditionally sees demand bolstered by back to school purchases.

According to the research firm, early trends for year-on-year sales estimates extrapolated from the early September figures show desktop sales up 31 per cent and notebook sales up 66 per cent in the UK.

This trend was replicated across Europe, with sales of notebooks growing up to 87 per cent in The Netherlands and 85 per cent in Italy. Sales of desktops have grown by more than 50 per cent in Italy, Germany and Spain.

Pascal Bollon, worldwide director of IT products at GfK, said: "Great consumer volatility over the past two months means that we should be careful, but this is undoubtedly a tremendous sign for the entire industry."