Mini notebooks save the day for PC vendors

THE EMEA PC market is only really being propped up by little lappies, according to new data which claims EMEA PC growth slumped to single digits in the fourth quarter of 2008 marked by paltry unit growth of 1.8 per cent year on year.

IDC EMEA released preliminary data saying that although the Western European market had held it together despite the credit crunch, Russia, the Ukraine and other Central Eastern European countries had been an albatross round the market's neck, dragging overall regional performance way down.

Despite falling short of expectations at 11.9 per cent growth, the Western European market got a kick up its backside at Christmas, helped along by a strong demand for portables and mini laptops. In fact, portable growth is looking very healthy indeed at 56 per cent.

Unsurprisingly it was desktops which took a hit from the crunch monster as businesses reigned in IT spending and laptops cannibalised a hefty portion too.
In a clever move, Telco's apparently managed to stay afloat by teaming up with mini-notebooks in partnership deals which saw both first- and second-tier players offering heavily subsidised mini-notebooks.

Eszter Morvay, a senior research analyst for IDC noted, "mini-notebooks will continue to drive market expansion and multi-equipment trends in Europe in 2009."

But whereas the situation seemed relatively stable over to the west, the eastern side of Europe is a different kettle of fish altogether, with the PC market contracting by 23.8 per cent for the first time ever. Desktop shipments plunged deeper than KGB submarines, falling by 36 per cent as botebooks took a 4.7 per cent hit. IDC also noted CEE's largest markets were suffering from lack of credit availability and a glut of notebook stocks from Q3 ‘08.

As far as vendors are concerned, HP was doing a bit better than the rest, seeing market growth of 13 per cent in Q4 and 21 per cent for the year. Acer also didn't do too badly after squeezing its multibrand strategy for all it was worth in Q3 and keeping its crotchtop sales up.

Dell saw its growth fall flat overall, but did manage to show some nice growth in the consumer notebook space, helped along by the addition of a mini-notebooks to its range.

Asus showed slower growth from previous quarters, but on the whole stayed strong with the largest offering of mini-notebooks and deals with telcos across the region.

Toshiba also managed to pull a rabbit out of its hat, recording a very strong quarter indeed, bolstered by significant share gains and the launch of its mini-notebook in November 2008. µ