Record PC sales will be recorded in Europe over the next two years, according to a British research company, CONTEXT, which says demand will be boosted by falling prices and the need for year 2000-compliant products. The company's preliminary figures show first-quarter 1998 PC sales in western Europe rose by 21.1 per cent to 5.57 million units.
"There will be more pressure on prices. In the next months Intel's new Celeron chip will allow manufacturers to sell and build at much lower prices. We will see more pressure on prices, especially on desktops. This won't stop, it will accelerate," said Mr Emmanuel Lalloz, senior PC research analyst at CONTEXT.
Last week saw Europe's personal computer shakeout continue. Siemens Nixdorf of Germany, Europe's leading personal computer maker, turned over most of its PC business to Taiwan's Acer Inc. Acer will take over PC development and production, make a Siemens plant its main European production site, and supply computers that the German company will distribute under its own name.
Last Friday, Tulip Computers NV of the Netherlands, one of Europe's last independent makers of personal computers, sought court protection from its creditors.
