CNBC has too much effect on momentum investors. (the New investor) They can
really rock the market like one guy Acapupa.
Heres a new article hot off the press
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 1998 21:32:54 -0700 (PDT)
News Alert from Dow Jones Online News via Quote.com
Topic: (NYSE:CPQ) Compaq Computer Corp, (NASDAQ:DELL) Dell Computer Corp,
(NYSE:IBM) Intl Business Machines Corp,
Quote.com News Item #7271381
Headline: Europe's Personal-Computer Sales Continue To Surge In 2nd Quarter
======================================================================
By Matthew Rose, Staff Reporter
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Europe continues to be the main engine of growth
for the personal-computer industry, according to second-quarter figures
from Dataquest, a market-research unit of U.S.-based Gartner Group.
PC unit sales in Europe grew 19.5% in the second quarter from the
year-earlier period, the fourth-consecutive quarter of surging sales and
the third-straight quarter in which Europe has been a bright spot for
major PC manufacturers. By comparison, the U.S. market grew 12% in the
second quarter, Dataquest said.
"The story is that Europe is still the strongest region," said Philip
Williams, a senior analyst at Dataquest in London. Williams cited strong
economic growth and booming consumer sales as the market's key drivers.
The European spoils weren't shared equally among all manufacturers,
who use the quarterly figures as a signpost for the market's health.
Most PC makers have been hurt by a shift to cheaper PCs and some
slowdown in demand, especially in Asia. The biggest factors in the
second quarter were the effects of massive inventory buildups at Compaq
Computer Corp. (CPQ) and some of its rivals, and booming growth at Dell
Computer Corp. (DELL), which jumped into the No. 2 spot for the first
time.
Compaq, which recorded its highest-ever European market share of
15.5%, said the latest data misleadingly counts the company's
throttled-back sales to its distributors, rather than their shipments to
end customers. Compaq pared shipments by a month's worth of sales in the
second quarter to reduce inventory, but estimated that European "sales
out" to end-users were actually up 40% from the year-earlier period,
compared with 26% gross unit sales to distributors.
Including that difference, "we increased our market share
considerably," said Andreas Barth, general manager of Compaq in Europe.
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), continuing its
lackluster European performance, slipped out of second place for the
first time to fast-growing rival Dell. Dell posted quarter-to-quarter
growth of 79%, compared with IBM's growth of 9%. Dell's model of letting
customers configure the machines they buy through direct telephone and
World Wide Web sales has shaken up the market. The system keeps Dell's
sales costs and component inventories down and has been mimicked by
other PC makers.
The competition for second place is likely to become even more fierce
toward the end of the year, which is traditionally weaker for the
corporate-oriented Dell. Dataquest said Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP), Dell,
or Siemens AG all could claim second spot. "We are preparing for the
second wave of market-share wars," said Frederic Leenhardt, H-P's
European PC marketing manager.
The quarter confirmed other recent trends, such as the risky state of
the European computer industry and falling PC prices. In the second
quarter, Germany's Vobis Microcomputer AG was acquired by CHS
Electronics Inc. of the U.S. In addition, many of Europe's top computer
distributors, such as Computer 2000 AG and Metrologie International SA,
were bought by larger U.S. multinationals.
Average selling prices for corporate PCs stabilized in the second
quarter as companies started buying newer, and more expensive,
technologies. Consumer PCs, however, continued their inexorable slide,
with prices falling 15% to 20% in the second quarter from the
year-earlier period, Dataquest said.
As has been the case for the past year, consumer demand, which has
been soft on other continents, drove European PC sales. In particular,
the German market, which counts for one-third of all European consumer
sales, boomed as alternative PC retailers increased sales. PC unit sales
in creased 34.4% in the second quarter.
Sweden continued its phenomenal growth prompted by a series of
employee-purchase plans. The consumer PC market tripled in the second
quarter, pulling overall PC sales growth to 70%.
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