PC sales: Europe outstrips the US

Although everyone obsessed about China, Europe turned out to be a pretty good market for PC makers last year.

PC shipments to the Europe, Middle East and African (EMEA) region came to 72.6 million in 2005, or 33.2 per cent of the total shipped during the year, according to research firm Gartner. North America accounted for 67.1 million, or 30.7 per cent, of shipments.

This marked the first time that Europe saw more PC shipments than the US. In 2004, 62.4 million PCs shipped to North America while 62 million went to Europe. European shipments grew 17.1 per cent during the last year while North American shipments grew by 7.5 per cent.

Shipments to Asia-Pacific and Latin America grew at a faster rate - 26 per cent - but the number of PCs shipped to both regions was lower. About 42.8 million PCs were shipped to Asia. Asia, however, produces more PCs than other regions, which explains why Intel sells more chips there than to Europe or North America.

A strong euro and demand for laptops, particularly among consumers, lifted European sales, according to Gartner.

One of the big beneficiaries of stronger European sales was Acer, which has targeted European laptop consumers. The Taiwanese company has been the fastest-growing PC manufacturer for two years. In 2005, Acer grew shipments by 58.1 per cent and saw its market share grow from 3.4 per cent to 4.6 per cent.

Gartner said PC shipments grew by 15.3 per cent during the year, slightly lower than the 16.4 per cent annual growth rival IDC said occurred. The difference between the shipment figures from IDC and Gartner reflects the different methodologies of the two research firms. However, the figures from the two rarely differ radically.

Michael Kanellos writes for CNET News.com