Processor sales

This week's Context brings you corporate sales of desktop PCs, by processor, in the US, UK, Germany, The Netherlands, France and Italy, from November 1997 through to January.

week's Context brings you corporate sales of desktop PCs, by processor, in the US, UK, Germany, The Netherlands, France and Italy, from
 November 1997 through to January.
            US
                                % RISE
                        NOV      DEC       JAN
 Pentium MMX        49.3        56.3        63
 Pentium II             18.8    21.7        25.7
 Pentium                17.1        13.3       5.8
 Pentium Pro            8.6         2.5         2
 Other                  6.2         6.2         3.5

Pentium MMX processor sales surpassed the Pentium II among corporate resellers.

Pentium Classic and Pentium Pro faded out quickly.

Other processors failed to impact corporate resellers.

            UK
                            % RISE
                        NOV      DEC       JAN
 Pentium MMX        68.5        71.6        75
 Pentium                15.6        16.2       8.7
 Pentium II             11.4        10.1      14.1
 Pentium Pro            2.1         0.1       0.2
 Other                  2.4         2       2.1

Sales growth of the Pentium II processor was slower in the UK than in the US, with declining sales in December.

The Pentium Classic lost ground in January, having dropped from 16.2 per cent to 8.7 per cent.

The MMX-based P55 held three quarters of corporate resellers, and non-Intel processors were stable.

            GERMANY
                                % RISE
                        NOV      DEC       JAN
 Pentium MMX        66.2        71.8      69.5
 Pentium II             13.1      10.8      18.4
 Pentium                18.4        12        10
 Pentium Pro            2           1.9       1.9
 Other                  0.2          3.5       0.1

With close to 20 per cent of the channel's share of desktop PCs in January, Germany was the country which most favoured the Pentium II.

The Pentium MMX dropped between December 1997 and January, from 71.8 per cent to 69.5 per cent.

Pentium Classic sales nearly fell below the 10 per cent mark.

Market research firm Context looks at the corporate sales of desktops, split by processor, in the US, UK, Germany, The Netherlands, France and Italy.

Context assesses the rise of the Pentium II in each local market, with regard to the decline of other Pentium labelled processors.

            THE NETHERLANDS
                                % RISE
                            NOV       DEC       JAN
 Pentium MMX        65.4        75.7      76.5
 Pentium                28.6        19      13.4
 Pentium II                 3.2         4.7       8.7
 Pentium PR                 2.7         0.2         -
 Other                      -           0.4       1.4

Share of MMX-based Pentiums continued to grow, reaching close to 77 per cent of corporate channel desktop sales.

The Pentium Pro dropped out of the channel, with no significant sales having been recorded.

Pentium II sales grew to reach nine per cent of the market share.

            FRANCE
                                % RISE
                            NOV       DEC       JAN
 Pentium MMX        75.8         77.2      79.6
 Pentium                16.5         12.9       4.2
 Pentium II                 5.3          8.6      14.3
 Pentium PR                 1.1          0.3       0.3
 Other                      1.3           1       1.7

The Pentium MMX held nearly 80 per cent of the corporate channel's sales.

The growth of the Pentium II has largely been at the expense of the Pentium Classic, but with 4.3 per cent share left, the MMX will see a surge in demand.

Non-Intel chips had less than two per cent of the segment.

            ITALY
                                % RISE
                            NOV       DEC       JAN
 Pentium MMX            77          83.4        80
 Pentium                    20          8.5      10.8
 Pentium II                 2.6         7.9       9.1
 Pentium PR                 0.2         0.2         -
 Other                      0.1             -         -

Growth of the Pentium II was slow - from 7.9 per cent in December 1997 to 9.1 per cent in January.

MMX-based Pentium sales increased their share to 80 per cent, having lost 3.4 percentage points over a month.

Stock clearance can explain the last growth of the Pentium Classic, which gained close to two percentage points in one month.