UK PC market losing pace with European rivals

Losing ground: the UK market shrunk 2.4 per cent in Q3, compared to 3.7 per cent growth in Germany

"Very weak" demand in the business arena is keeping the UK PC market in decline, while European counterparts have returned to growth, research has claimed.

Figures from Gartner reveal 3.3 million PCs were shipped in the UK in 2009's third quarter, a drop of 2.4 per cent on the same period last year. However, the market did display a return to usual seasonal growth trends, with shipments rising by 30 per cent on the Q2 figure.

Western Europe's other big markets fared significantly better, with France enjoying a 1.9 per cent annual shipment spike and Germany growing at almost double that rate.

Gartner principal analyst Ranjit Atwal said: “The decline in the PC market in the UK has slowed down and the return to growth will be a slow and difficult process. While the consumer market continued to defy the economic environment, the business market was still very weak.”

Acer was the quarter's big winner and took top spot in the UK with 798,000 units shipped, representing a 24.2 per cent slice of the market. The Taiwanese vendor grew shipments by 35.3 per cent year on year as its market share leapt by almost seven points, taking it from third to first position.

Dell was almost six points behind in second spot after shipments fell 14.6 per cent annually to 605,000. HP took third place with 17.5 per cent of the market but also suffered a double-digit shipment decline.

Toshiba hung on to fourth spot but endured a torrid quarter, with UK shipments plummeting 26.1 per cent and market share falling back more than two points to 6.5 per cent. Apple completed the top five after an impressive Q3 performance. The vendor's shipments rose 26.1 per cent to 165,000, while market share was up 1.2 points to five per cent.

One area of the UK market to enjoy growth was the netbook space, with the miniature machines now accounting for more than two-fifths of consumer PC shipments.

Across the whole of western Europe, shipments were down 0.3 per cent year on year to 16.69 million. Acer bolstered its position as the region's top manufacturer, with shipments rising more than a fifth annually and market share up by five points to 28.3 per cent.

HP performed solidly in second spot, with units shipped rising one per cent to 3.6 million and market share up three-tenths of a point to 21.5 per cent. Dell, in third position, suffered a 19.7 per cent shipment decline as its market share slipped 2.4 points to 9.5 per cent. Asus and Toshiba complete the top five with 6.5 and 5.8 per cent of the market respectively.

Atwal said: “What will vary going forward will be the speed at which the professional market will grow. Some markets will see much faster growth than others, creating bigger opportunities for vendors.

"The time span of the decline varied across countries in the third quarter of 2009, with countries such as France that have only had one quarter of shipment decline before returning to growth, whereas the UK, Spain and Ireland have seen a prolonged negative performance in the market.”