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EMEA PC market defies economic gloom
- Acer hits top spot in Q3, takes netbook market by storm
Reading (UK) - Friday, 7 November 2008
For immediate release
Highlights from the Canalys Q3 2008 research
2008 has been a healthy year for the EMEA PC market, with strong
double-digit growth each quarter despite the credit crunch and rise
in energy prices. Year-on-year unit growth of 27%, and value growth
of 11%, made Q3 the biggest quarter so far this year. The charge has
been led by the notebook segment and the emergence of the netbook as
a new category generating good volumes. Desktop and server PC
shipments remained fairly stable, with both showing single-digit
growth over Q3 2007.
With more than two million units shipped in Q3, netbooks are
proving to be a category worthy of attention. Healthy shipments are
likely to be sustained in Q4, as additional vendors enter the market
and competition intensifies. Acer and Asus have driven the market so
far, with shipments of 1.1 million and 650,000 respectively in Q3.
Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, HP, Lenovo and Toshiba are among the vendors
that have announced new netbooks for Q4.
“Netbooks are largely a consumer phenomenon today, and will
remain so for some time, outside of a handful of vertical markets,
such as education and field service. This market will grow strongly,
but success will depend on developing new sales channels, pricing
and product positioning,” said Andy Buss, Canalys principal analyst.
“With 3G being integrated, mobile operators become an important
route to market, but mobile broadband pricing and end-user support
are areas that will also require ongoing attention.”
Enterprise PC shipments were up a respectable 15% year-on-year,
but were outshone by consumer PCs, which grew 46%, aided by those
netbook sales. “To put the importance of this new product category
into perspective, consumer PC market growth without netbooks would
have been just 22%. So far, netbooks are not cannibalising notebook
sales,” said Adrian Drozd, senior analyst. “But things will change
as the market moves beyond the early adopter phase.”
A broadening range of netbook options are now available, giving
customers more choice. Larger screen sizes and hard drives, and
greater prevalence of Microsoft Windows mean that netbooks will
compete with entry-level notebooks. “PC vendors should leverage the
economies of scale that netbooks bring to develop a cost-effective
range of small notebooks that target this overlap market,” Drozd
added. “Ultraportables have historically been premium products with
high prices, and consequently limited sales volumes. This is an
opportunity to turn this category around, but vendors should still
be careful of moving too quickly to potentially lower-margin
products without an associated increase in volume.”
Acer overtook HP to lead the EMEA PC market in Q3, helped by
strong netbook shipments. Asus has also risen up the charts partly
by pioneering this category. The Taiwanese vendors accounted for a
combined 82% of netbook shipments in Q3. Despite Asus kicking it off
with the Eee PC, Acer has made this market its own, with the Aspire
One proving a major hit. “On current growth, Dell’s position in the
top three is under threat from Asus in Q4”, said Buss. “Dell’s
initiatives to re-take share have failed and it must look at its
manufacturing and go-to-market strategies if it is to remain a
top-three player in EMEA.”
Canalys notes that some caution should be exercised going
forward. A slowdown at the end of Q3 took some of the edge off what
was otherwise a great quarter. The financial crisis has yet to
filter into the broader market, but it is likely that there will be
some impact in the near term. The appreciation of the US dollar
means that the aggressive euro pricing seen in the last year will be
moderated and price points are likely to remain stable or even
increase in Q4 and early 2009.
About the Canalys services
The shipment estimates discussed in this release come from PC
Analysis EMEA – a continuous service that monitors the performance
of the leading PC vendors in the region. Through regular reports,
market data, forecasts and direct analyst contact, Canalys examines
market trends and advises on the issues facing PC hardware and
software vendors. Clients also gain access to the highly respected
Canalys Critique quarterly webcast, which delivers quantitative and
qualitative analysis of European IT market trends.
About Canalys
Canalys specialises in delivering high quality market data,
analysis and advice to the world’s leading technology vendors. It is
recognised as a key provider of continuous advisory services and
confidential custom projects for marketing managers and strategists
within blue-chip IT, telecoms, navigation and consumer electronics
companies. It has unrivalled expertise in routes to market for all
kinds of high technology products and services in the consumer, SMB
and large enterprise segments, and provides worldwide market data
and trends analysis.
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