LONDON, November 8 2002 - According to IDC final data, PC shipments in Germany grew by 3.9% in third-quarter 2002 compared with the same quarter last year. Although economic uncertainty continues to affect corporate spending, a slow recovery is clearly on its way in the German PC market. Notebook sales continued to record double-digit growth, driven this quarter by strong business sales, while healthier desktop sales helped boost volumes.
"The desktop market returned to positive growth after six quarters of negative performance, thanks to a gradual rebound in both the commercial and consumer markets," said Stefania Lorenz, Senior Research Analyst for IDC's European Personal Computing Group. "Although cautious attitudes continued to prevail in the corporate space, essential renewals are taking place, and demand in the small and medium business market was stimulated by fierce competition from all international and regional vendors," she added.
The German market continued to be affected by fragile economic conditions, while the elections contributed to a "wait and see" stance among businesses, but signs of improvement are visible. Vendor competition and aggressive pricing, however, remain key in volume generation.
On the consumer side, and in line with forecasts, consumer desktop sales improved sequentially, driven by healthy back-to-school sales and aggressive pricing in the retail channel, although growth remained negative at 1.4% year-on-year. Consumer notebook sales softened, however, after two quarters of strong double-digit growth, declining year-on-year by 1.7%.
Notebook sales continued to outperform overall market growth, driven by strong commercial sales (18.3% year-on-year), especially in the SMB space, while a slowdown in consumer demand inhibited overall growth at 12.6% year-on-year. Toshiba retained leadership in the overall German notebook market, but Gericom continued to lead in the consumer segment while IBM gained No. 1 position in the commercial space.
Vendor Performance Highlights
Fujitsu Siemens retained a clear leadership in the overall German PC market with 20% share. The vendor also maintained dominance in both the consumer and commercial desktop markets. Fujitsu Siemens managed to show sustained recovery from the previous quarter, thanks to strong performance across all product lines and in particular in the Intel server space, where the vendor recorded a 25% annual increase. Good product positioning, strong back-to-school sales, improved distribution channel strategy in the SMB market, and continued focus on mobile computing contributed to the vendor performance.
HP maintained the second position in the market, although performance was soft, with overall shipments declining 1.7% year-on-year. The vendor recorded a sharp decline in the consumer space. Greater emphasis, however, was placed in the commercial segment, where aggressive pricing strategies in the channel contributed to strong double-digit growth year-on-year in both the commercial desktop and notebook markets. In the business mobile market, HP gained third position behind IBM and Toshiba. In the desktop market, HP remained in second place.
Dell continued to place a strong focus on the German market and gain share across all product lines. While the vendor continued to execute an effective go-to-market strategy, increased presence in both the SMB and consumer market also contributed to drive the direct vendor's expansion and performance in the largest European market. Strong marketing campaigns enabled the vendor to consolidate its brand awareness.
Acer continued to gain significant share in the German market, taking the fourth position in the overall ranking, thanks to strong desktop and notebook sales in the SMB and consumer markets. IBM performed very strongly this quarter in the business notebook space, recording outstanding growth of nearly 80% year-on-year. Effective targeting of the SMB market through its Top Seller program enabled the vendor to gain first place in the commercial notebook market and third place in the overall notebook market.
Maxdata also performed well, gaining two positions in the overall German ranking. This was attributed to sustained desktop sales and continued triple-digit growth in the Intel server space, enabling the vendor to gain fifth position in the desktop market and retain fifth position within the Intel server market. Local vendors Vobis and Actebis displayed mixed performance. Vobis continued to record impressive growth in both the desktop and notebook consumer markets, thanks to aggressive pricing and active marketing campaigns. Actebis, however, fell to 10th position in the overall ranking, as a result of fierce competition in the consumer and SMB markets.
Top 10 Vendor PC Unit Shipments and Share in Germany
Third-Quarter 2002 (Thousands of Units)
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| | 3Q01 | Share | 3Q02 | Share | Y/Y |
| | | 3Q01 | | 3Q02 | growth |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| Fujitsu | 294 | 19.4% | 314 | 20.0% | 7.0% |
| Siemens | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| HP | 224 | 14.8% | 220 | 14.0% | -1.7% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| Dell | 100 | 6.6% | 111 | 7.1% | 12.0% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| Acer | 65 | 4.3% | 81 | 5.1% | 23.2% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| Vobis | 54 | 3.6% | 80 | 5.1% | 48.5% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| IBM | 56 | 3.7% | 72 | 4.6% | 29.5% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| Maxdata | 68 | 4.5% | 71 | 4.5% | 4.6% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| Medion | 48 | 3.2% | 55 | 3.5% | 15.1% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| Toshiba | 45 | 3.0% | 49 | 3.1% | 8.0% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| Actebis | 99 | 6.5% | 48 | 3.1% | -51.2% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| Others | 464 | 30.6% | 473 | 30.1% | 2.1% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| | | | | | |
| Total | 1,515 | 100% | 1,575 | 100% | 3.9% |
| | | | | | |
|---------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
Shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors. Data for all vendors is reported for calendar periods. Data for HP includes HP and Compaq combined.
Source: IDC EMEA, Final Results 3Q02
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For more information, contact:
Karine Paoli
+44 (0) 20 8987 7218
kpaoli@idc.com
Stefania Lorenz
+44 (0) 20 8987 7176
slorenz@idc.com