Dell plummets down UK PC table

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 26 Aug 2010 at 14:04

Dell has dropped from first to third in terms of UK PC shipments, according to the latest figures from Gartner.

Acer has taken advantage of weak corporate demand to leapfrog both HP and Dell, according to Gartner's estimates for the second quarter of this year.

The sales figures - which include both laptop and desktop PCs - make particularly grim reading for Dell, which was the only manufacturer in the UK top five to shed sales year-on-year.

In Q2 2009, Dell sold 597,000 PCs in the UK to comfortably claim top position. In Q2 of this year, it's predicted to sell only 462,000, leaving it far behind marker leader Acer, which is estimated to ship 648,000.

Gartner says weak corporate demand has hit Dell particularly hard. "The UK market remained the weakest of the larger PC markets in Western Europe with growth almost half that of France," claims Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal. "Given the UK market was also the weakest in the downturn, its recovery had been much more muted."

Gartner claims Dell struggled to offset the weak corporate demand in the retail marketplace, resulting in a 22.6% fall in PC shipments year-on-year.

Dell's loss is largely Acer's gain, with the more consumer-focused Taiwanese manufacturer not only claiming the top spot in the UK, but in the whole of Western Europe, knocking HP off its pedestal.

Acer recorded growth of more than 36% in the UK, and almost 30% across Western Europe as a whole.

UK's top five PC sellers - Q2 2010

1. Acer - 22.4% (market share)

2. HP - 20.5%

3. Dell - 15.9%

4. Toshiba - 7.6%

5. Samsung - 5.9%

(All figures supplied by Gartner)