PC shipments were down in Western Europe, dropping over 11 percent during the third quarter of 2011 vs. the same period a year ago according to Gartner. Total shipments for the quarter were 14.8 million total, down from 16.7 million, but Apple bucked the trend and saw a nearly 20 percent increase in shipments year over year.
One of the biggest hits the market took in general was a 40 percent decline in mini notebook (including netbook) shipments. Gartner doesn’t include tablets in its PC shipment outlooks, but it’s very possible the iPad could’ve been a considerable factor in that precipitous drop. Even without the iPad included, Apple still saw a 19.6 percent growth in its computer shipments between the third quarter of 2010 and the same period in 2011. Shipments grew from 947,000 in Q3 2010 to 1.13 million in Q3 2011, and Apple’s market share jumped from 5.7 to 7.6 percent, thanks to the declining fortunes of other PC manufacturers.
A big part of Apple’s success had to do with its performance in the U.K. market, where it chalked up 21.8 percent growth overall measured against the year-ago quarter, and increased its market share from 5.7 to 7.8 percent. In the U.K., Apple also saw its biggest competition in the PC space come from the same manufacturer currently challenging it most in smartphones and tablets: Samsung. Samsung experienced a huge 39 percent growth overall in the U.K., with its share jumping from 4.7 percent to just under Apple’s at 7.3 percent.
Apple is fourth overall in sales in the U.K., but third-placed Acer saw its shipments drop by a massive 53.1 percent in shipments, so Apple could easily move up the rankings next time around if it can keep Samsung at bay. In Western Europe as a whole, Apple came in fifth, but again, Acer, which ranked second, posted huge nearly a nearly 50 percent drop in overall shipments, while fourth place Dell shrank 10 percent, too.
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