Personal computer companies operating in the German market don’t seem to have won much relief from the demise of Escom AG. Researcher Context Inc says growth in sales of personal computers in Europe slowed further in the second quarter, held back by Germany’s dull performance as the government tries to grind the economy into a state of submission where it meets the European currency convergence criteria, which unfortunately do not include employment levels. Context reckons marginal manufacturers face a desperate fight for survival, and the top four were Compaq Computer Corp with 12.15%, down from 12.8% a year ago; IBM Corp with 9.7%, up from 9.2%; Hewlett-Packard Co with 5.38% from 5.2%; and Dell Computer Corp ousting Apple Computer Inc, fourth with 5.22%, up from 3.1%; Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG was fifth with 4.36% but Apple plunged to 3.95% market share from 5.6% and was just behind Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA. Sales it Germany, it says, rose 5.9% to 835,000, compared wi th the same period last year. In the UK, sales jumped 18.4% to 741,000, and the Netherlands jumped 26.2% to 271,000 machines in the quarter.
