HP tightens grip on rebounding EMEA PC market

Regional shipments grow 11 per cent in Q3 but market leader HP grows even faster

HP has tightened its stranglehold over an EMEA PC market that grew by double digits in Q3, according to IDC.

The vendor increased its regional market share from 20.9 to 22.1 per cent year on year in the three months to 30 September off the back of 16.8 per cent shipment growth.

Total PC sales across the region grew by 10.8 per cent to 23.7 million during the quarter thanks to a surge in shipments in the more mature markets, IDC said.

But while western Europe sales bounced 22.7 per cent, shipments in central and eastern Europe dropped back by nine per cent as the unstable situation in Russia dented activity.

Portable PC shipments across the region rose 13.5 per cent, with desktop sales up 5.2 per cent.

Although HP increased its market share, Lenovo is now fewer than three points behind after the 43.7 per cent shipment growth it enjoyed propelled its EMEA market share from 14.9 to 19.4 per cent year on year.

Third-placed Acer also grew its market share to 12 per cent, meaning the top three players now account for more than 50 per cent of the volume.

Maciek Gornicki, senior research analyst at IDC EMEA Personal Computing, said consumers saddled with outdated PCs were being tempted by new machines with attractive price points, including notebooks running Windows 8 and Bing.

"We would expect this trend to continue into the fourth quarter, with end-of-year Christmas sales likely to result in further market growth," he said. "Commercial shipments also continued to grow, though at a slower pace, as the end of Windows XP support-related renewals started to wind down."

IDC's findings echo those of rival research house Gartner, which reckons Q3 EMEA shipments rose by a slightly more muted 9.6 per cent, to 24 million.