Apple Debuts Among the Top Five In France

PC shipments in France totalled 3.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009, an increase of 4.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2008. In 2009, PC shipments reached 10.8 million units in France, a 1.7 per cent increase from 2008.

“The fourth quarter showed the strongest PC growth in France last year,” said Isabelle Durand, principal analyst at Gartner, based in France.

The mobile PC market accounted for 64 per cent of total PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009, with volumes increasing 8 per cent year-on-year. Deskbound PCs declined 1 per cent despite high demand on all-in-one desktop models.

“In the fourth quarter of 2009, the consumer PC market remained buoyant with 15 per cent growth year-on-year. This market was driven by strong mini-notebook demand and large number of vendors increased their mini-notebooks shipments during the quarter,” said Ms Durand. Gartner estimates that of all mobile PCs shipped 20 per cent were mini-notebooks in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The professional PC market declined 10 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009. The demand from businesses remained weak due to IT budget reductions and ongoing extension of desktop PC life cycles. The decline in the professional desktop PC market will continue through most of 2010 as adoption of Windows 7 deployments in this market will not start before the end of 2010.

In the fourth quarter 2009, Acer moved to the No. 1 position reaching 24.7 per cent of market share and growing 16 per cent. Its performance was the result of aggressive pricing on both low-end notebooks and mini-notebooks. Asus exhibited the second highest year-on-year growth, and it shipped more standard notebooks than mini-notebooks in the fourth quarter.

Apple made its debut among the top five PC vendors displacing Toshiba. Apple performed well in the mobile PC market despite the company’s decision not to enter the mini-notebook market. Apple refreshed its iMac and Mac Mini lines which bolstered desktop PC sales during the quarter.
 

“Increased competition in the mobile PC space is expected in 2010, with the prospect of affordable ultra-thin and -light notebooks, and new tablet PCs,” said Ms Durand.