Microsoft's Tablet going down well in Europe

Microsoft's Tablet PC software is going down a storm in Europe, with early reports suggesting the latest entrant in Microsoft's race for domination in the computing market has come flying out of the blocks.

Market researcher Context claims that despite only a partial quarter of sales, Microsoft Tablet PCs accounted for one per cent of European portable sales during the fourth quarter. Microsoft launched its Windows XP Tablet PC Edition on 7 November, with Acer, Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu-Siemens, Toshiba among the manufacturers selling portables using the software.

The majority of manufacturers use a flat design with 10.4-inch or 12.1-inch display. Toshiba's model is a more typical subnotebook that morphs into a Tablet. Users can either input written text or drawings with a stylus or attach a keyboard for input.

While Microsoft has been hot on the technology's rapid adoption, analysts have been cool. IDC expects manufacturers to sell only 425,000 units worldwide - or about one per cent of all portables - this year.

Overall, the portable market is on a roll in Europe, growing four times as fast as the total PC market, according to Context.

As expected, businesses account for the vast majority of tablet PC sales - 89 per cent in Europe. For the fourth quarter in Western Europe, HP snatched the top spot, with 38.5 per cent of the market, followed by Acer with 24.3 per cent, according to Context. Fujitsu-Siemens captured the third position with 19.7 per cent, while Toshiba claimed the fourth spot with a 17.5 per cent share.

During December, in the top seven European countries - France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom - HP also took the top spot, with 45.6 per cent of the market. The seven countries account for about 80 per cent of all computer sales in Europe.

Acer took the No. 2 position with 33.6 per cent of the market, followed by Toshiba at 13.8 per cent and Fujitsu-Siemens at 6.9 per cent. Context's figures for the top seven countries represent actual retail sales, while the quarterly figures measure units shipped by manufacturers to dealers.