Compaq expects solid European growth in '98

January 30, 1998

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) -- Compaq Computer Corp. said Thursday it expected new lines of computer workstations based on Windows NT and as well as concentration on home and small business PCs to help growth across Europe in 1998.

"We think we can grow faster than the rest of the market," Andreas Barth, president of Compaq Europe, Middle East and Africa, said at a news conference. The company planned to expand its product reach at the CeBIT computer fair in March by releasing a European line of palm-sized PC Companions that it now sells in the United States.

It planned to add more NT workstations that it hopes will win over customers in the financial sector. "We are aiming for trading rooms in Europe," Barth said.

The market for such workstations, high-powered machines with more storage and faster communications capabilities than standard PCs, would double in 1998, according to market researchers.

In the home market, Compaq expected a clear rise in sales as Europeans hook up to the Internet. "We are going for number one in the consumer market," Barth said. In 1997, Compaq's sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa rose 33 percent to $7.94 billion, boosted by a rebound in Germany where its market share rose to 9 percent from 7.6 percent.

The German PC market grew last year by 15 percent in unit terms, but Compaq's unit sales surged 37 percent to 412,000, Barth said. In value terms, sales rose 33 percent to 1.8 billion marks.

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