UK PC sales slide by 5.1 per cent

HP manages to hold onto the top spot, despite a decline in shipments – Dell battered by lack of corporate demand
The UK saw first quarter shipments of PCs fall 5.1 per cent to 3m units, according to the latest figures from Gartner.

HP managed to retain the top spot in the UK despite seeing its shipments fall 6.8 per cent leaving it with 22.2 per cent of the market. Despite that, Dell was the worst hit, seeing its sales plummet by 21.7 per cent to 20.3 per cent, as the recession continued to hit sales in the corporate market where the vendor performs best.

However, Acer's continued dominance of the netbook market in the UK saw its sales rocket by more than 40 per cent, giving it 16.8 per cent of the market. Elsewhere, Toshiba, which has been quietly growing its market share in the UK for the past couple of years, saw its share of the market hit 9.1 per cent after it managed to grow its shipments by 7.7 per cent.

Apple also entered the UK top five for the first time, taking 4.8 per cent of the market after it managed to grow its shipments by 6.6 per cent.

In Western Europe, sales actually grew – albeit by 0.7 per cent – thanks to the continued sales success of netbooks and entrance of the telecoms market into the IT fray.


As in the UK, HP managed to maintain its lead – which it recently took after it usurped Acer last year. It saw its shipments grow by 1.2 per cent to 22.8 per cent, which was just enough to hold of Acer's resurgence thanks to netbook sales. It saw its sales increase by 31.6 per cent to 22.1 per cent.

On the continent, Dell suffered from exactly the same problem as in the UK, with its staple customers amongst the hardest hit by the recession and so the least likely to spend. That left Dell with a sales decline of 22.1 per cent and just 10.6 per cent of the Western European market.

Toshiba saw its shipments increase by 6.8 per cent, helping to get within one and a half per cent of Dell and third place, with 9.1 per cent. However, it was Asus that saw its share of the market grow the most, up by 43.4 per cent, taking it to 4.8 per cent of the Western European market.

http://www.pcretailmag.com/news/3156...by-51-per-cent