Dell keeps XP
Several tier-one PC vendors will follow Dell's lead and continue offering Windows XP on new machines after Microsoft's 30 June retirement date, says ARN.
Last week, Dell announced it will be able to continue offering customers XP pre-installed by taking advantage of a little-known clause in the downgrade rights that come with Vista Ultimate and Vista Business.
According to Dell, it will factory install XP after 18 June when customers choose a "Vista Ultimate Bonus" or "Vista Business Bonus" option as they configure PCs. Dell will then install Windows XP Professional on the machine, and include backup media for that OS as well as the installation disc for Windows Vista.
Eee shipments booming
Asustek Computer is set to double shipments of the Eee PC laptop in the second quarter of this year, reports Smarthouse.
Eee PC shipments will rise to between 1.2 million to 1.3 million units in the three months ending 30 June, said Asustek, with the company shipping 700 000 Eee PCs in the first quarter.
Shipments of the Eee PC have gone up so fast that they are starting to challenge the company's other laptop PC products. Overall Asustek says it will sell between 1.3 million and 1.4 million notebook PCs during the second quarter, up from 1.3 million in the first quarter.
EMEA PC market grows
According to new preliminary data released by IDC EMEA, the first quarter of the year displayed healthy trends for the PC industry in EMEA, states IT SecCity.
Driven by continued strength in the notebook market in Western Europe and accelerated portable market expansion in the CEMA region (Central Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa), PC shipments recorded robust 19% growth compared with the same quarter in the previous year.
Notebooks continued to drive growth across the region with shipments recording an increase of over 43% year on year, while desktops suffered from the market contraction in Western Europe and declined by 1.7%, boosting the share of notebooks to over 55% of total EMEA shipments.
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