INDICATORS - Portables sales

PC Dealer brings you Context's findings on sales of portables among resellers, from July to December 1997.

Context looks at the Q3/Q4 sales of portables in the corporateamong resellers, from July to December 1997. reseller channel in the US, the UK, Germany and France

With close to a third of the segment's sales, IBM was ahead of Compaq and Toshiba.

Compaq performed well in September and October, declining slightly in the last two months of 1997.

In December, Toshiba and IBM gained market share at the expense of Compaq and smaller players.

Nonetheless, IBM, Compaq and Toshiba dominated the sector and remained close to one another.

Toshiba topped this sector despite a drop in December.

The supplier was followed by IBM and Compaq, although IBM lost market share to the other five vendors.

Siemens Nixdorf's growth was due to its aggressive pricing and the fact that it had recently entered the channel. This pattern can be seen across all channels and sectors for Siemens Nixdorf.

Apple also entered the channel but, like Siemens Nixdorf, was still a minor player.

Germany was the only European market where Toshiba was being challenged by IBM.

Nonetheless, during the second half of 1997, with over 41 per cent, Toshiba remained in the lead.

Compaq was third with a share of between 20 and 25 per cent of this segment.

The top three vendors accounted for almost 97 per cent of this sector.

Toshiba's sales lead increased in December.

Compaq was the closest challenger with 18.4 per cent, compared to Toshiba's 59.4 per cent.

IBM's third position was not under threat, with about six times as many units sold as its next competitor.

Digital became a player in the market sector, with a 3.4 per cent share in Q3/Q4.