PC sales in the UK go sky high

UK PC sales rocketed 21 per cent by units to 2.5 million PCs in 1995 and 24 per cent in value to #4.5 billion, according to researchers Romtec.

Romtec analyst Chris Herbert attributed the modest rise in unit value to soaring consumer sales which saw the market switch to higher spec machines.

Pentium models took 34 per cent of the market, up from four per cent in 1994 and multimedia machines advanced to 19 per cent from five per cent the year before. Retail channel sales leapt 38 per cent over the year to take 14 per cent of all sales. Direct sales eased by three per cent to take 33 per cent of the market.

Compaq turned in sales nearly double those of its closest rival, with 15 per cent market share in 1995. IBM was second with eight per cent, followed by Dell at seven, Apple at six and Toshiba and AST at five per cent each.

Vendors turned in good performances and understood that 'communication is the fundamental force driving demand', Herbert said.