Acer grabs top spot in EMEA PC market

HP ousted as top dog in EMEA as Acer continues its bid for world domination

Acer has ruffled feathers in the industry by grabbing the top spot in the EMEA PC market from rival HP.

Research from Gartner covering the third quarter of 2008 revealed that despite HP hanging onto the top spot globally, it has been ousted from the winners podium by Acer, due to the vendor’s strong mini-notebook push this year.

Total PC shipments across EMEA for the quarter stood at 28.8 million units, a 25.9 per cent increase compared to last year. Acer accounted for 20.6 per cent of shipments in the region, with HP accounting for 18.7 per cent, according to Gartner. This means Dell has been pushed into third place in the top five.

Globally HP holds 18.4 per cent market share, with Dell in second place on 13.6 per cent and Acer snapping at its heels on 12.5 per cent market share.

Mika Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner’s client computing markets group, said: “The mini-notebook segment experienced strong growth in the global PC, led by robust growth in the EMEA region. In the North America market, the economic crunch created more interest in the sub $500 segment. Because the mini-notebook is still a new segment, it is too early to determine if the emerging segment created new market opportunities, or if it cannibalised lower priced systems.

“At the same time, global PC market finally felt the impact from global economic downturn,” Kitagawa said, adding the US professional market experienced the “biggest hit” of the quarter.