PC shipments in Western Europe increased by 19.4% to 18.1 million units in the first quarter of 2010, compared to 15.12 million units for the same period last year, according to IT research and advisory firm Gartner.
Acer gained the top spot with 4.2 million units in Q1 2010, accounting for a market share of 23.4%, while HP took the second place with a share of 22.6%, followed by Dell, Asus and Toshiba with a share of 10%, 7.9% and 5.9%, respectively.
According to Gartner, PC shipments in the UK rose by 14.5% to 3.35 million units from 2.94 million units in the same period last year. HP took the top spot with a growth of 6.3%, accounting for a market share of 21.1%. Dell and Acer exhibited a 1.6% and 25.5% growth, with a share of 18.5% and 16.4%, respectively. These were followed by Toshiba and Samsung Electronics which accounting for a market share of 8.7% and 6.7%, respectively.
PC shipments in France totaled 3.16 million units, an increase of 30.6% compared to the same period in 2009. Acer shipments grew by 36.9% accounting for 24.6% of market share, followed by HP and Asus with a share of 24.4% and 10.5%, respectively. Dell exhibited a growth rate of 20.8%, with a share of 9.5%, while Toshiba stood at fifth position with its market share declining to 6.6% from 7.2% in Q109.
PC shipments in Germany rose by 14.3% to 3.3 million units, compared to same period last year. Acer regained its top position with its market share increasing to 22.4% from 16.6% for first quarter of 2009. HP gained the second spot with year over year shipments up by 13.7%.
Ranjit Atwal, principal analyst at Gartner, said: “Western Europe recovered quicker than expected from the weak performance experienced in 2009. In the first quarter of 2010, the PC market defied the economic conditions as consumers continued to purchase PCs to the detriment of other consumer electronic products.
“With both consumer and professional markets experiencing stronger growth in the first quarter of 2010, we expect the PC market in Western Europe to sustain growth.”
