All is bright for PC sales
EMEA spike in Q4 defies wintry expectations
PC sales for EMEA ended on a high note in 2004, despite fears of slack Christmas sales.
The latest figures for the fourth quarter 2004 from market watcher Canalys indicated that overall PC sales were up by almost 17 per cent year on year. Mobile computing remained the key driver for EMEA growth, with notebook shipments 30.3 per cent higher than Q4 2003.
In contrast, PC sales grew by 11 per cent and servers by 12.3 per cent. Canalys also noted that channel-centric notebook vendors gained market share at the expense of direct vendors.
Hewlett-Packard retained the top spot in the EMEA PC market, accounting for 17.8 per cent of units shipped, which represented a yearly increase of 7.7 per cent. Dell and Fujitsu Siemens were the closest rivals, with market shares of 11.1 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively.
However, both companies recorded significantly higher growth rates in unit shipments and are closing the gap on HP.
Apple, Toshiba, Acer and NEC all benefited from a faster replacement cycle in the consumer sector, according to Canalys. Apple's notebook shipments climbed by more than 64 per cent year on year, making it the fastest-growing notebook vendor.
Toshiba's shipments grew by over 42 per cent year on year in EMEA. It is expected that this will drag its loss-making global PC business into the black by Q1 2005.
In the commercial sector, the SME marketplace is the main battlefield for commercial PCs and notebooks. Canalys claimed that highly efficient supply-chain programmes and effective channel engagement are the keys to success here. Acer's and Fujitsu Siemens's strong SME focus made them the leading players in the commercial notebook market in Q4.
"Acer's strength in both commercial and consumer notebooks means it is still setting the pace in the EMEA mobile PC market," said Rachel Lashford, analyst at Canalys.
"Its ability to outperform larger competitors from a pricing and channel management perspective illustrates how important flexibility and grass-roots channel engagement are. The only concern is whether Acer can maintain this momentum with such a slim EMEA management team."
Sarah Percy, head of Ingram Micro's PC division, said: "Notebooks grew every quarter last year because people are moving away from desktops. With more consumers entering the notebook market, prices have come down. For this year, there is no reason to believe we will not see continued strong growth in the notebook sector.
"There will be growth in desktop sales too, but it will be at a much lower level."