Europe, Middle East, Africa PC shipments up-study
(adds details, recasts throughout)
LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Personal computer shipments for
Europe, the Middle East and Africa rose by seven percent in the
third quarter, reversing a five-quarter decline, market research
firm Gartner Dataquest said on Thursday.
The increase was led by strong PC demand from consumers and
small businesses in Western Europe, particularly Germany, the
study said. But Gartner cautioned that the improvement does not
signal a recovery.
"This is a structural (improvement). The market is really
bouncing along the bottom," said Gartner analyst Brian Gammage.
He added that the figures are an improvement on the third
quarter of 2001, "the worst-ever period for the PC industry."
Parroting some of the pessimistic forecasts that have come
out this week from computer-chip giant Intel Corp. <INTC.O> and
Apple Computer Inc. <AAPL.O>, Gammage said a full-blown recovery
is not at hand.
He predicted sustained growth in PC shipments will not take
hold until the second-half of 2003. In the meantime,
discounting, particularly with laptop computers, will continue,
he said, with a further squeeze on manufacturers' margins.
Shares in computer and chip makers have been battered over
the past year as global demand for computing products and
software have sunk. Retailers have instituted a series of
discounts on hardware to move units, eating into profits.
In total, regional PC shipments topped 9.5 million units in
the quarter, up from 8.9 million in the year-earlier period.
PC makers Dell Computer <DELL.O> and Acer <2353.TW> notched
the highest growth rates, increasing shipments by 10.6 percent
and 22.4 percent, respectively. International Business Machines
Corp. <IBM.N> registered a 3.5 percent decline, Gartner
reported.
Hewlett-Packard <HPQ.N>, which is still working through its
merger integration with Compaq in Germany and France, saw
shipments rise by 1.7 percent in the period, keeping a firm hold
as the region's top PC seller.
Gammage said the Eastern European market continues to grow
at an impressive, double-digit pace, led by Russia. Political
instability in the Middle East and Africa is blamed for a
quarterly decline there, he added.
((European Equities Desk tel +44 20 7542 2490, fax +44 20
7542 7634, email Bernhard.Warner@Reuters.com))
REUTERS
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