Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Acer Inc (宏碁) recorded sharp shipment declines in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region in the second quarter of this year, as the overall market continued to suffer from weak demand, according to tech research firm International Data Corp (IDC).
The total PC shipments in the EMEA region reached 17.2 million units in the April-June quarter, a 21.6 percent decline year-on-year, IDC said in a report on Friday last week.
Asustek climbed to fourth place in the EMEA PC rankings, but its shipments declined in line with the market at 21.1 percent year-on-year.
IDC said that Asustek’s limited volume of low-cost PCs shipped with Microsoft Corp’s “Windows 8.1 with Bing” operating system reduced the vendor’s exposure during the quarter.
Acer came in fifth, with its shipments declining across all EMEA sub-regions by 42.2 percent year-on-year due to weak demand, while Acer also focused on clearing inventory ahead of its new products for the back-to-school season, the report said.
The top three players in the EMEA region during the second quarter were Hewlett-Packard Co, Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and Dell Inc, with their PC shipments contracting by 17.2 percent, 14.7 percent and 11.7 percent year-on-year respectively.
The EMEA market continued to suffer from unfavorable exchange rates that led to higher price points and weaker demand, with the decline deepened by the adverse year-on-year comparison with a very strong first half of last year, when Windows XP-related renewals boosted shipments across the region, IDC said.
High inventories also translated into lower shipments in this transition quarter, as the industry focuses on stock depletion in preparation for the Windows 10 launch this summer, the report said.
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