Consumers rule
Gartner's latest report on the Western European PC market reveals the UK showed the weakest growth among leading countries with a year-on-year decline of five percent.
On the other hand, the whole of Western Europe only managed growth of 0.7 percent as the mini-notebook (netbook) sector was the only one to show significant growth. "If it had not been for the mini notebooks, all of Western Europe would have seen a bigger decline in shipments," said Ranjit Atwal, principal analyst at Gartner.
The tables below show the top five vendors in Western Europe and the UK, respectively. They show that vendors with a strong consumer focus, typified by Acer, are taking share from those with a greater emphasis on business spend, like Dell.
Table 1
Western EuropePC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q09 (Thousands of Units)
Company |
1Q09 Shipments |
1Q09 Market Share (%) |
1Q08 Shipments |
1Q08 Market Share (%) |
1Q09-1Q08 Growth (%) |
Hewlett-Packard |
3,492 |
22.8 |
3,451 |
22.7 |
1.2 |
Acer |
3,384 |
22.1 |
2,571 |
16.9 |
31.6 |
Dell Inc. |
1,627 |
10.6 |
2,088 |
13.7 |
-22.1 |
Toshiba |
1,037 |
6.8 |
862 |
5.7 |
20.3 |
ASUS |
729 |
4.8 |
509 |
3.3 |
43.4 |
Others |
5,053 |
33.0 |
5,732 |
37.7 |
-10.1 |
Total |
15,323 |
100.0 |
15,214 |
100.0 |
0.7 |
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs
Source: Gartner (April 2009)
Table 2
United KingdomPC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q09 (Thousands of Units)
Company |
1Q09 Shipments |
1Q09 Market Share (%) |
1Q08 Shipments |
1Q08 Market Share (%) |
1Q09-1Q08 Growth (%) |
Hewlett-Packard |
667 |
22.2 |
715 |
22.6 |
-6.8 |
Dell Inc. |
610 |
20.3 |
779 |
24.6 |
-21.7 |
Acer |
506 |
16.8 |
360 |
11.4 |
40.6 |
Toshiba |
273 |
9.1 |
254 |
8.0 |
7.7 |
Apple Computer |
143 |
4.8 |
135 |
4.3 |
6.6 |
Others |
809 |
26.9 |
928 |
29.3 |
-11.1 |
Total |
3,010 |
100.0 |
3,172 |
100.0 |
-5.1 |
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs
Source: Gartner (April 2009)