PC shipments in Western Europe totalled 13.3m
units in the first quarter of 2007, an 11.25% increase on the same
quarter last year, said analyst Gartner.
The analyst said the growth was fuelled by the continued high
demand for laptops, with this segment making up half of the
market.
The first quarter would see the highest demand over the year,
and Gartner predicts the full year will see overall growth of
8%.
PC shipments in the UK totalled 2.8m in the first quarter, an
increase of 14%, and outstripping the growth rate for Western
Europe as a whole.
The UK
consumer market led the growth with a 23% increase, whilst the
professional market lagged behind exhibiting 8% growth.
First quarter sales of laptop PCs in the UK were up 47% on the
first quarter of 2006.
“In the UK, more than 70% of households will own a PC in 2007,”
said Ranjit Atwal, a principal research analyst at Gartner.
Dell had another weak performance in the first quarter of 2007,
recording an 11% decline. Acer and HP fuelled the overall growth
thanks to competitively-priced laptop PCs, said Gartner.
But Dell remained the number one supplier by volume, followed by
Hewlett Packard at number two and Acer holding the third
spot.
Worldwide PC shipments up >>
HP and Dell tie for top PC supplier title >>
Read Gartner's
report >>
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