Small power supply maker PicoBox presents a PC PSU series measuring just 56mm-- the Z2, a PSU packing all components in a compact board customers can set on top of the motherboard 24-pin ATX connector.

Being so small, the Z2 PSU takes no internal system space, making it attractive for use in compact PC builds. Available with a choice of 120W, 160W, 200W and 250W max output ratings, the Z2 range is just 56mm long and 27mm deep, with a fanless design PicoBox claims offers "super high efficiency" of over 94%. The board features an 8-bit microcontroller with electrolytic capacitors, and offerc OCP, OVP and OTP protections.

Global consumer PC revenues are down "slightly" in H1 2019, GfK reports, as they fall by -1.5% Y-o-Y to €23.2 billion. Mobile PC turnover is up by 1% to  €18bn, while desktops and AIO see a -10% Y-o-Y decline to €5.3bn.

The analyst points out the processor supply shortage faced in Q4 2019, the effects of which are still being felt in 2019. It is the reason why H1 2019 mobile PC demand is down by -5% in unit term, leading to sales reaching 27.5 million units. W. European sales are down by -6% Y-o-Y. However, the importance of performance and premium features for consumers brought about a 1% increase in revenues worth €18bn.

“The PC may have lost the battle for the most personal device, but when it comes to performance and productivity, it is still irreplaceable," GfK says. "This explains why the demand for PCs is often use case-driven-- for gaming and entertainment, education, work and creativity for instance. Alongside that performance, consumers want the same appealing and sleek design they expect from their smartphone. This adds to their enjoyment when indulging themselves with premium products.”

Asus announces a pair of compact ROG-branded AMD X570 motherboards-- the Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Impact (Mini-DTX, 20.3 x 17cm) and ROG Strix X570-I Gaming (Mini-ITX, 17 x 17cm), both featuring premium designs aimed at gamer and enthusiast customers.

As the company puts it, the motherboards will "treat users to the full-on ROG experience in a small package." As such, both motherboards carry Infineon TDA21472 power stages as part of the VRM architecture, something Asus says helps with rapidly changing current demands, minimising switching and conduction losses, and maintaining thermal performance.

Cooling comes through large heatsinks and two Delta Superflo fans rated to last over 60000 hours cooling chipset and VRM areas. Also included are heatpipes designed to minimise thermal throttling from components operating with high core count processors. The two motherboards have PCIe x16 and M.2 slots wired with PCIe 4.0 for high-performance graphics NVMe drive connectivity. Wifi 6 (802.11ax) support is also included.

EMEA traditional PC (combining desktops, notebooks and workstations) shipments total 71.7 million units in 2019, IDC reports-- a 0.2% increase brought about by a a strong pipeline of deals ahead on Windows 7 end of support.

According to the analyst, while slow demand and high inventory continue to affect the consumer market, the Windows 10 refresh of the commercial market should be sufficient to offset an overall negative trend. W. Europe continues to drive the market in 2019, but CEE is set to pick up the pace in 2020 and continue growing through to 2023. MEA should be soft in 2020, before gaining stability until 2023.

"The Western PC market gained further momentum in Q2 2019, primarily boosted by the Windows 10 transition in the commercial segment," IDC says. "Despite CPU shortages constraining the supply chain, efficient planning by OEMs toward order fulfillment supported strong results across both the private and public segments. The outlook for 2019H2 remains strong as demand is expected to strengthen from the SMB space, supported by large and very large businesses as Windows 7 nears end of life."