IDC's latest EMEA Quarterly PC Tracker paints bright picture
The PC market in EMEA continued to enjoy healthy growth in the first quarter of 2006, which IDC attributes largely to buoyant notebook demand particularly from the consumer and small business sectors.
Competitive pressure, declining price points, and aggressive promotions were listed in IDC's latest EMEA Quarterly PC Tracker as factors that continued to assist overall PC demand and in particular portable adoption across the region.
According to the analyst firm, the first quarter of 2006 saw total computer shipments expanding 15 per cent year on year, with total portable sales recording over 30 per cent growth. Desktop shipments during the same period rose seven per cent.
"Continued erosion of laptop prices, coupled with aggressive marketing campaigns, have contributed to maintaining unabated demand for portable systems in the consumer and small business market," said Karine Paoli, research director for IDC's EMEA PC Group.
"Dual-core processors have received a good response, and demand for wide-screen multimedia notebooks is growing. But the bulk of the market continued to be based on mainstream and low-end products with many notebooks now found at £399.
"This forces vendors to develop increasingly effective business models in order to meet market conditions while maintaining profit margins."
On the desktop front, sales maintained positive trends but declining price points and aggressive pricing strategies acted as a major demand stimuli.
"The business market overall remains affected by slower corporate refresh activity and continued notebook traction in the small business space, while consumer desktop sales proved slightly disappointing in some countries," said Elsa Opitz, research manager for IDC's EMEA PC Tracker.
"The attraction of notebooks plays a definite role in diverting consumer attention, but the unclear messaging around Media Centers and the announced delay of Vista may also contribute to 'wait and see' attitudes in the consumer space."
From a regional standpoint, IDC noted that the buoyancy of the notebook market contributed to maintaining healthy 10 per cent growth in Western Europe and boosted shipments to nearly 12 million units in the region.
The analyst firm added that the first quarter of the year has been categorised by intense vendor competition.
Acer and Dell maintained pressure in EMEA, but HP posted " remarkable volume growth" and reinforced its lead in the region, while notebook vendor Toshiba entered the overall top five vendor ranking thanks to solid performance.
Sony and Apple also posted strong results, while Asus continued to gain share in EMEA.
The PC market in EMEA continued to enjoy healthy growth in the first quarter of 2006, which IDC attributes largely to buoyant notebook demand particularly from the consumer and small business sectors.
Competitive pressure, declining price points, and aggressive promotions were listed in IDC's latest EMEA Quarterly PC Tracker as factors that continued to assist overall PC demand and in particular portable adoption across the region.
According to the analyst firm, the first quarter of 2006 saw total computer shipments expanding 15 per cent year on year, with total portable sales recording over 30 per cent growth. Desktop shipments during the same period rose seven per cent.
"Continued erosion of laptop prices, coupled with aggressive marketing campaigns, have contributed to maintaining unabated demand for portable systems in the consumer and small business market," said Karine Paoli, research director for IDC's EMEA PC Group.
"Dual-core processors have received a good response, and demand for wide-screen multimedia notebooks is growing. But the bulk of the market continued to be based on mainstream and low-end products with many notebooks now found at £399.
"This forces vendors to develop increasingly effective business models in order to meet market conditions while maintaining profit margins."
On the desktop front, sales maintained positive trends but declining price points and aggressive pricing strategies acted as a major demand stimuli.
"The business market overall remains affected by slower corporate refresh activity and continued notebook traction in the small business space, while consumer desktop sales proved slightly disappointing in some countries," said Elsa Opitz, research manager for IDC's EMEA PC Tracker.
"The attraction of notebooks plays a definite role in diverting consumer attention, but the unclear messaging around Media Centers and the announced delay of Vista may also contribute to 'wait and see' attitudes in the consumer space."
From a regional standpoint, IDC noted that the buoyancy of the notebook market contributed to maintaining healthy 10 per cent growth in Western Europe and boosted shipments to nearly 12 million units in the region.
The analyst firm added that the first quarter of the year has been categorised by intense vendor competition.
Acer and Dell maintained pressure in EMEA, but HP posted " remarkable volume growth" and reinforced its lead in the region, while notebook vendor Toshiba entered the overall top five vendor ranking thanks to solid performance.
Sony and Apple also posted strong results, while Asus continued to gain share in EMEA.
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