Booming portable adoption continues to drive EMEA PC market growth in 1Q 07, says IDC (page 2 of 2)

Acer continued to deliver the fastest growth trend overall among the top 5 players, maintaining solid growth in the notebook space at over 46% but also managing to post an outstanding 48% increase in the desktop space. The Taiwanese vendor held very strong positions in the notebook market in both the retail and SMB channels across the EMEA region, but it also increased pressure in the consumer desktop space in Western Europe.

Dell recorded another soft quarter with a slight contraction of overall shipments, as the vendor continued to suffer from slow corporate demand and from the competition of the retail channel in the consumer space. Not benefiting from the visibility and customer reach that this latter offers, the lack of product display and immediate availability due to the vendor's sole direct and online presence also prevents Dell from making the most of the current consumer market buoyancy.

Fujitsu Siemens returned to more positive trends in the first quarter after a slower 2H06. Performance was patchy across Western Europe but improved competitiveness and supply chain, in particular in the notebook space, and a more effective selling strategy allowed FSC to hold up well against HP's increased competition in Germany, for instance, and take the 5th position in the UK with an outstanding 90% growth, while continuing to post strong results in the CEE region.

Toshiba continued to deliver a solid performance in the notebook market and maintain the 5th position in the overall EMEA ranking, thanks to a strong product portfolio, an active retail strategy in Western Europe and continued expansion in CEE. While Toshiba benefits from the evolution of the market towards second and third time buyers, the vendor nevertheless faces tough competition from all other players.

Lenovo and Packard Bell, ranking 6th and 7th respectively, also recorded healthy performances for the quarter. Lenovo returned to an encouraging 14% growth while Packard Bell posted a strong quarter in the consumer segment. Asus also continued to grow share in the notebook market and captured the 8th position overall.

Shipments are branded shipments for all form factors (including desktop and notebooks) and exclude x86 servers as well as OEM sales for all vendors. Data for all vendors is reported for calendar periods.