PC shipments in Western Europe totalled 15.3 million units in the first quarter of 2009, a 0.7 percent increase from the same period in 2008, according to Gartner, Inc.
Of the leading Western European countries, the UK was the weakest while France and Germany saw low single-digit 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, based in the UK, in the press release.
In the first quarter of 2009, the professional market declined more than 20 percent year-on-year as businesses clearly refrained from buying and subsequently extended there PC lifecycles. “This is a clear indication of the trend that we will see in other countries through 2010,” added Mr Atwal. The consumer market remained buoyant driven by strong mini notebook demand, and numerous vendors increased their mini notebook shipments during the quarter.”
Acer continued to grow despite the tough environment with strong mini notebook shipments in retail and the telco channel, while HP maintained its leading position with 1.2 percent year-on-year growth. Dell faced the impact of the slowdown with over exposure to the three weakest elements of the market: the UK market, the professional and overall desktop markets.
Western Europe PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q09 (Thousands of Units)
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs
UK: Apple Made Its Debut in Top Five
PC shipments in the UK totalled 3 million units in the first quarter of 2009, a decline of 5.1 percent compared with the same period in 2008. As expected, the PC market showed negative growth with the professional market declining rapidly. Dell saw its market share decline due to a rapid slowdown in the desktop professional market. Acer’s shipments increased 40.6 per cent due to its strong performance with mini notebooks. Apple made its debut in the top five replacing Fujitsu Siemens, with market share of nearly 5 percent.
United Kingdom PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q09 (Thousands of Units)
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs
Source: Gartner (April 2009)
MacDailyNews Note: Remember that Gartner’s numbers measure unit shipments only; a £299 low- or no-margin netbook counts the same as a 17-inch Apple MacBook Pro.
