GartnerGroup's Dataquest Says European Home PC Market Experienced
Exceptional Growth in First Quarter 1999;
Overall European PC Market Driven by Sales in the Home Sector
GartnerGroup's Dataquest Says European Home PC Market Experienced
Exceptional Growth in First Quarter 1999; Overall European PC Market
Driven by Sales in the Home Sector
EGHAM, U.K. (May 6) BUSINESS WIRE -May 6, 1999--Spurred in part by the
sale of lower-priced personal computers into the home market, European
PC shipments in the first quarter of 1999 increased 20 percent over the
first quarter of 1998, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner
Group, Inc. (NYSE:IT).
Home PC shipments in the region grew 57 percent over the same period
last year, while the professional segment grew 9 percent in the
quarter.
"Ever lower prices, the allure of the Internet, and new cost-saving
channels, as well as innovative marketing promotions, are all driving
consumer growth," said Philip Williams, senior industry analyst for
Dataquest's PC Quarterly Statistics Europe program.
"Contrary to perceived wisdom that home users will play to the same
basic rules that professional buyers have stuck to, of finding a price
level they are comfortable with and by and large just accepting
increasing levels of technology, home buyers just want more, but at
substantially lower prices."
Fujitsu experienced the strongest growth among the top-tier vendors
(see Table 1) because of its strong growth in the home market in
Germany and around Western Europe. Fujitsu took the No. 1 position in
the home market in total Europe for the first time ever.
Table 1
European PC Vendor Shipment Estimates for 1998 (Thousands of Units)
Company Q1/98 Q1/98 Market Q1/99 Q1/99 Market Growth
Shipments Share (%) Shipments Share (%) (%)
Compaq 897 15.2 1,135 16.1 26.8
Dell 429 7.3 613 8.7 43.0
IBM 455 7.7 586 8.3 28.7
Fujitsu 306 5.2 449 6.4 46.9
Siemens 299 5.1 400 5.7 33.7
Others 3,495 59.4 3,883 54.9 11.1
Total Market 5,882 100.0 7,067 100.0 20.2
Source: Dataquest (May 1999)
Compaq performed well in the major European countries to hold the No. 1
position in the overall market. Dell continued to do well, as its first
quarter 1999 shipments increased 43 percent from the same period last
year. Dell's growth is attributed to its continued success in the
professional segment.
The region was lead by Germany, where shipments reached 1.6 million
units, an increase of 34.6 percent over the first quarter of 1998. The
United Kingdom was the No 2 country with shipments of 1.4 million
units, which is up 24 percent from last year. France, the No. 3
country, had shipments reach 895,000 units, a 32 percent increase over
the first quarter of 1998.
These countries experienced even stronger growth in the home market.
Home PC shipments in Germany grew 109 percent in the first quarter of
1999. Home PC shipments in the United Kingdom and France grew 75
percent in each region.
"The food retail channel in Germany sold 200,000 Fujitsu PCs in a
matter of days," said Williams. "This demonstrates the degree to which
the consumer market is booming there."
Dataquest analysts will examine the future of the PC industry during
the upcoming GartnerGroup's Dataquest Predicts 99 Conference, to be
held June 7-9 at the Hotel New York Convention Centre in Paris.
Dataquest analysts will also provide their outlook for the other
sectors of the high-technology industry. More information on the event
is available on GartnerGroup's Web site at
www.gartner.com/public/static/events/predict_euro/predict_euro.html.
Additional information on the European PC market is available in
Dataquest's PC Quarterly Statistics Europe program. This program offers
a comprehensive and timely picture of the European PC market. More
information on this program is available on Dataquest's Web site at
www.dataquest.com/dq/static/offer/programs/pcqseuds19981130.html.
To subscribe to this program, please call 800/419-DATA, or
408/468-8009. More information about Dataquest's programs, descriptions
of recent research reports, and full text of press releases can be
found on the Internet at dataquest.com.
GartnerGroup's Dataquest is the recognized leader in providing the
high-technology and financial communities with market intelligence for
the semiconductor, computer systems and peripherals, communications,
document management, software, and services sectors of the global
information technology industry.
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