Acer grabs top spot in EMEA

PC SHIPMENTS were up 27 per cent in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) during the third quarter of 2008 compared with last year, IDC reckons.

The research outfit says good sales of notebooks and a boost supplied by what it calls "mini notebook" devices have contributed to the healthy growth, despite gloomy economic lack of confidence in some European countries.

The firm's preliminary data suggests a 52 per cent year on year growth in laptops.

"Although the retail channel remained the primary route-to-market to reach consumers, mini notebook volumes were further boosted by the rising number of telco deals across several countries, enticing customers with free laptops bundled with mobile broadband, benefiting Asus and Acer in particular," said said Eszter Morvay, senior research analyst for IDC's EMEA PC Tracker.

The figures undeline the strength of the Taiwanese brands in EMEA. Acer, as it predicted to the INQ, took the number one spot in EMEA overall while Asus stepped up to fourth place in the ranking.

IDC said the "appealing product design coupled with the right price point earned Asus and Acer a combined market share of over 80 per cent in this rapidly expanding market.

"Mini notebooks are clearly shaking up the competitive landscape, which is likely to get even more fierce in the pre-Christmas season with several vendors launching products from October, and potentially pushing mini notebooks volumes in EMEA towards the 4 million range in 4Q08," Morvay added. µ

Top 5 Vendors: Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) 3Q08 PC Shipments (Preliminary) (000 Units)

Source: IDC EMEA Quarterly PC Tracker, Preliminary Results, 3Q08, October 16, 2008