By Ben King, 23 April 2002 17:25
NEWS Toshiba has ousted Compaq as the UK's top laptop vendor but margins have suffered as a result, according to market research company IDC. Toshiba's market share grew five per cent to 20.5 per cent, two per cent above Compaq as the Japanese company aggressively pursued the home office and small business markets. The corporate sector, traditionally a big buyer of laptops, as been badly affected by the downturn and laptop manufacturers like Toshiba have had to turn to less lucrative markets for growth. Commenting on the figures, IDC analyst Andy Brown said: "Toshiba has returned to the number one spot but there have been concerns about margin erosion as they're shifting to low-end products." Laptop shipments worldwide were 2.7 per cent lower than the same period a year ago. However, Europe showed a slightly rosier picture, with sales up six per cent in the UK. French shipments were up 15 per cent and in Germany they were a whopping 21 per cent higher. Is the desktop dead?
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