Date: 22/08/2011

Gartner: Western Europe PC market declined by 19 percent in 2nd Q 2011

PC shipments in Western Europe totaled 12.7 million units in the second quarter of 2011, a decline of 18.9 percent from the same period in 2010, according to Gartner, Inc.

"The PC market in Western Europe suffered from weak demand in both the professional and consumer sectors, a market which also faced inventory issues caused by overstocking in 2010," said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner.

The mobile PC market was particularly hit hard with a 20.4 percent decline, as mini-notebook shipments decreased 53 percent. Desktop PCs declined 15.4 percent year-on-year.

"The much anticipated uptake in the professional segment, in the wake of migration to Windows 7, was subdued by the negative economic outlook," said Ms. Escherich. "PC shipments in the professional segment declined 9 percent in the second quarter of 2011. The biggest decline continued to come from the consumer segment which decreased 27 percent year-on-year."

In the second quarter of 2011, Acer lost the No. 1 position as a result of significant inventory adjustments and a decrease in mini-notebook sales. Acer's weak performance resulted in HP moving to the No. 1 position while Dell remained in the No. 3 position. Asus shipments declined 22.9 percent as consumer demand remained weak and mini-notebook shipments fell rapidly.

"This quarter's results highlights the ongoing weakness of consumer demand, and could indicate a structural change in the market that threatens to continue in the near future," said Ms. Escherich.


Vendor

2Q11 Shipments

2Q11 Market Share (%)

2Q10 Shipments

2Q10 Market Share (%)

2Q11-2Q10Growth (%)

HP

3,171

25.1

3,376

21.6

-6.1

Acer Group

2,046

16.2

3,696

23.7

-44.6

Dell

1,371

10.8

1,571

10.1

-12.7

Asus

1,021

8.1

1,324

8.5

-22.9

Apple

879

7.0

875

5.6

0.5

Others

4161

32.8

4751

30.5

-12.4

Total

12,649

100

15,593

100

-18.9