Acer clinches top spot for Euro notebooks

Acer is the notebook brand most in demand in the UK and Europe, relegating perennial favourites HP and Dell into second and third place.

Sales of Acer notebooks rose 39 percent quarter-on-quarter, according to the latest analyst statistics. Notebook sales as a whole are climbing steadily — albeit at a slower growth rate than that of Acer — increasing 29 percent over the past year. Other manufacturers to have been particularly successful are Apple (up 63 percent year-on-year) and Sony (up 47 percent).

HP sells the most laptops globally, being the number-one vendor in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Dell is the global number two.

The figures, which were calculated by analyst firm DisplaySearch and released immediately after Christmas, assess the third quarter of 2006. PC sales were expected to dip in the fourth quarter due to a succession of notebook battery fires and delays to the Vista operating system.