Gartner: PC-Markt in Westeuropa wächst im zweiten Quartal 2008 um 23 Prozent

The PC market in France continued to be driven by strong mobile PC sales. Growth was bolstered by shipments of low cost mobile PCs. Mini-notebooks represented 10.6 per cent of mobile PC sales.

The mobile PC market accounted for 55 per cent of total PC shipments in the second quarter of 2008, with volumes increasing 45.3 per cent year-on-year. Desk-based PCs performed a little better than expected with shipments increasing 5 per cent as a result of decreasing price competition in this segment.

While the professional market showed a healthy 13.3 per cent growth in the second quarter of 2008, the consumer market exhibited a 36.5 per cent increase. The consumer segment saw strong growth in mobile PCs with 59 per cent increase in the second quarter of 2008 and the consumer desk-based PC market returned to growth with a 7 per cent year-on-year increase.

Acer maintained its leadership and achieved strong performance with growth across the desk-based and mobile PC markets. The acquisition of Packard Bell allowed Acer to gain 2.5 percentage points of market share and widen the gap with HP. In the second quarter of 2008, Acer introduced its mini-notebook Aspire One and remained the leader in the mobile PC segment with 44 per cent growth year-on-year.

ASUS gained the fourth position displacing Toshiba. Asus continued to achieve strong sales with its eee PC, which represented 74 per cent of all Asus PC shipments. This performance allowed the vendor to reach the No. 3 spot in the mobile market.

Overall, mobile PCs in France will continue to perform strongly in the third quarter of 2008 with the introduction of new mini-notebooks models from HP, MSI and other local vendors and new technologies from Intel Montevina and Puma from AMD.

Table 2

France PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q08 (Thousands of Units)

Company      2Q08 Shipments     2Q8 Market Share (%)        2Q07 Shipments     2Q07 Market Share (%)            2Q08-2Q07 Growth (%)
Acer    607     26.6    445     24.1    36.5
Hewlett-Packard      480     21.0    381     20.6    25.8
Dell     318     13.9    281     15.2    13.0
Asus   149     6.5      34       1.8      338.0
Lenovo          136     6.0      124     6.7      10.2
Others            596     26.0    583     31.5    2.4
Total   2.286  100.0  1.847  100.0  23.8

Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs
Source: Gartner (July 2008)

Germany: Fujitsu Siemens Computers Looses Market Lead

PC shipments in Germany totalled 2.4 million units in the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 22.4 per cent compared with the same period in 2007.

The market was driven by strong mobile PC sales that accounted for 56 per cent of the total PC shipments, with volumes increasing 37 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2007. The desktop market showed a healthy 8 per cent growth year-on-year.

Acer gained the No. 1 position in Germany exhibiting a strong performance with a 45.4 per cent increase year-on-year, twice above the market average. “Acer’s position has significantly solidified since the Packard Bell’s acquisition. It was one of the few vendors shipping mini-notebooks during the second quarter of 2008 and has very aggressive plans in this segment for the second half of 2008,” said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner, based in the UK.

The decline in PC shipments in all segments meant a loss of four percentage points of for FSC, which is now holding the No. 2 spot closely followed by HP. With a weak dollar making imported computers cheaper, it has become increasingly difficult for FSC to compete effectively and expand its presence in the market.

HP saw a strong performance in the consumer segment. HP had to resolve an inventory issue in the second quarter of 2008, which meant that it applied very aggressive pricing, particularly in the retail sector. Although Dell grew 40 per cent in the mobile PC segment and held the No. 1 spot in the professional segment, it is still struggling to capture the imagination of German consumers. Medion’s performance relied upon successful ALDI promotions, which this time included an AMD processor desk-based PC.

Ms Escherich concluded: “Inventory overhang from the first quarter of 2008 has led to very aggressive pricing by the major vendors, especially in the mobile PC segment. Even though the market is still driven by strong consumer sales, the professional market performed well and reached 15 per cent increase in 2008. Restrained corporate IT spending since 2001 has created limited demand, and as a result the second half of 2008 & 2009 will likely see an increase in PC replacement activity in the professional segment. “

Table 3

Germany PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q08 (Thousands of Units)

Company      2Q08 Shipments     2Q08 Market Share (%)     2Q07 Shipments     2Q07 Market Share (%)            2Q08-2Q07 Growth (%)
Acer    298     12.2    205     10.3    45.4
FSC    278     11.4    301     15.1    -7.6
Hewlett-Packard      277     11.4    245     12.3    13.1
Dell Inc.         274     11.2    230     11.5    19.1
Medion          181     7.4      145     7.3      24.8
Others            1,130  46.3    866     43.5    30.5
Total   2,438  100.0  1,992  100.0  22.4

Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs
Source: Gartner (July 2008)

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