Gartner: PC-Markt in Westeuropa wuchs im dritten Quartal 2008 um 24 Prozent

Laut dem IT-Marktforschungs- und Beratungsunternehmen Gartner wurden im dritten Quartal 2008 in Westeuropa insgesamt 17,2 Millionen PCs verkauft; dies entspricht einer Steigerung um 24,3 Prozent gegenüber dem selben Zeitraum im Vorjahr. Damit weist der PC-Markt über alle bisherigen Quartale 2008 zweistellige Wachstumsraten aus; die Hauptursache hierfür war, dass nahezu alle Länder der Region ein starkes Wachstum bei Mini-Notebooks verzeichneten.

„Die jeweilige Position der PC-Anbieter in den Top 5 richtet sich hauptsächlich danach, ob sie Mini-Notebooks im Angebot haben oder nicht“, sagt Ranjit Atwal, Principal Analyst bei Gartner. „Dies führte auch dazu, dass Acer, zum ersten Mal überhaupt, an HP vorbeizog und nun auf dem ersten Platz der PC-Anbieter in Westeuropa liegt.“ Trotz der allgemeinen wirtschaftlichen Unsicherheit zeigte sich eine starke Nachfrage im Consumer-Markt, während das Geschäftskunden-Segment die Krise zu spüren bekam und im dritten Quartal nur ein allgemeines Wachstum von fünf Prozent verzeichnete mit einem Rückgang bei Desktop-PCs um drei Prozent.

Deutschland: 350.000 verkaufte Mini-Notebooks als Wachstumsmotor

In Deutschland wurden im dritten Quartal 2008 insgesamt 3,35 Millionen PCs verkauft, dies entspricht einem Wachstum von 24,8 Prozent gegenüber dem dritten Quartal 2007. „Dies ist in Zeiten von Rezession und Unsicherheit ein sehr starkes Ergebnis“, sagt Meike Escherich, Principal Analyst bei Gartner.

Verantwortlich für das Wachstum war vor allem der Markt für mobile PCs, der 63 Prozent des Gesamtmarkts ausmacht und um 36 Prozent gegenüber dem Vorjahreszeitraum wuchs. Der Desktop-Markt wuchs um 10 Prozent im Jahresvergleich. Acer ist weiterhin auf dem ersten Platz mit einem sehr starken Wachstum von 92 Prozent gegenüber dem Vorjahresquartal und 150.000 verkauften Mini-Notebooks. „Nach unseren Schätzungen sind 17 Prozent aller ausgelieferten mobilen PCs Mini-Notebooks. Aber auch ohne diese günstige Variante verzeichnete der Laptop-Markt im dritten Quartal noch immer ein Wachstum von 13 Prozent“, fügt Meike Escherich hinzu.

in Englisch:

Gartner Says Western Europe PC Market Grew 24 Per Cent in Third Quarter 2008

-       Acer Gained No. 1 Position in Western Europe

-       Mini-Notebooks Drove Overall PC Growth

Egham, UK, 12 November 2008 - PC shipments in Western Europe totalled 17.2 million units in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 24.3 per cent from the same period in 2007. 

The PC market in Western Europe continued to show double digit growth throughout 2008 with nearly all countries across the region posting strong increases as mini-notebooks boosted overall growth. “The market position of vendors was largely determined by those that shipped mini-notebooks and those that did not,” said Ranjit Atwal, principal analyst at Gartner, based in the UK. “As a result, Acer moved to the top position in Western Europe, ahead of HP for the first time ever.”

Despite the general economic turmoil, demand in the consumer PC market was strong in the third quarter of 2008. However, the professional market felt the impact as the desk-based market declined 3 per cent and the overall professional market increased just 5 per cent.

Gartner predicts that the PC market will weaken going into the fourth quarter and 2009, even with the increase in shipments of mini-notebooks. “It is impossible for the PC market to avoid the negative impact that the macro-economic factors are having on both business and consumer markets,” said Mr Atwal. “We expect organisations to keep their PCs longer and consumers to delay buying additional PCs for the household. This in turn will force a deeper price war and further consolidation in the marketplace.”

Table 1

Western Europe PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q08 (Thousands of Units)

Company

3Q08 Shipments3Q8 Market Share (%)3Q07 Shipments3Q07 Market Share (%)3Q08-3Q07 Growth (%)
Acer           4,296    25.0            2,614   18.9    64.3   
Hewlett-Packard        3,548    20.7            3,167   22.9    12.1   
Dell Inc.              1,985    11.6            1,792   13.0    10.7   
ASUS           1,101    6.4                373  2.7     195.5  
Toshiba           928   5.4                755  5.5     23.0   
Others         5,310    30.9            5,110   37.0    3.9    
Total      17,168100.0      13,811100.024.3
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs
Source: Gartner (November 2008)

UK: Mini-Notebooks Mask Underlying Weakness

PC Shipments in the UK totalled 3.4 million units in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 17.5 per cent from the same period in 2007.

The PC market in the UK remained strong as mini-notebook shipments boosted mobile PC growth. However, the 10 per cent decline in the desk-based market showed the real weakness in the underlying business demand.

Table 2

United Kingdom PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q08 (Thousands of Units)

Company

3Q08 Shipments3Q8 Market Share (%)3Q07 Shipments3Q07 Market Share (%)3Q08-3Q07 Growth (%)
Dell Inc.                 708   20.6               666  22.8    6.4    
Acer              651   18.9               405  13.8    60.9   
Hewlett-Packard           644   18.7               702  24.0    -8.2   
Toshiba           289   8.4                219  7.5     31.8   
Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens           151   4.4                138  4.7     9.8    
Others            995   28.9               795  27.2    24.9   
Total       3,438 100.0        2,925100.017.5
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs
Source: Gartner (November 2008)

“The roll-out of mini-notebooks has masked the weakness in the UK PC market,” said Mr Atwal. “The demand in the professional market slowed down and vendors’ margins continued to shrink as average selling prices fell by double digits again.”

Dell maintained its No. 1 position accounting for more than 20 per cent market share. Acer moved to second position ahead of HP as a result of an increase in total shipments thanks to strong sales of mini-notebooks. HP saw a decline as it was impacted by poor growth in both the consumer and professional markets. “Dell and HP will have a mini-notebook offering in the fourth quarter of 2008 and hope to regain market share from Acer,” added Mr Atwal.

The demand for consumer notebooks remained healthy with Toshiba and ASUS exhibiting strong growth. The professional market was flat overall with almost all the vendors posting negative growth. “The UK has already seen the effect of the macro economic factors and we believe that the fourth quarter of 2008 and 2009 will be much weaker than originally expected,” said Mr Atwal.

France: Mini-Notebooks Drove Market Growth and ASUS Moved to No. 4 Position

PC shipments in France totalled 2.8 million units in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 18.7 per cent from the same period in 2007.