PC market grows 17pc in Q1, says Gartner


16 Apr 2004

The PC market in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region grew 17pc in the first quarter of this year over the same period last year, according to new research from tech analyst Gartner. Unit shipments totalled 14.9m, driven by favourable prices and strong demand for desktop and notebook PCs.

Acer recorded the highest PC unit shipment at 74.8pc growth on the year as it continued to gain share in the distribution and retail channels.

Hewlett-Packard retained its position as number one vendor in the region, despite posting the lowest growth among the top five vendors and lost share as inventory issues, combined with the re-engineering of its channel businesses, resulted in a stumbling performance in some market. The company’s overall market share was down to 15.8pc, compared with 16.3pc last year.

Dell, Fujitsu Siemens and IBM all outgrew the market, with a shareholding of 11.1pc, 6.6pc and 4.4pc respectively.

Hewlett-Packard retained its lead in the notebook PC market, while Acer’s notebook PC shipments were over 100pc higher than in the first quarter of 2003.

“Demand for PCs in the professional market remains strong, fuelled by the continued decline in the value of the dollar,” said Brian Gammage, research vice president at Gartner. “The PC replacement cycle that started to materialise last year accelerated in Western Europe as buyers took advantage of increased purchasing power.”

By John Kennedy