The overall growth of the PC market in Europe has slowed, according to analysts Dataquest, though the mobile computing market showed impressive expansion. Dataquest said the slow growth was due to increased uncertainty in the marketplace, leading corporate customers to hesitate before going ahead with large deals. "It has been a miserable six months for European PC shipments. The market in Q100 did not bounce back in the way many had been hoping for," said Howard Seabrook, vice president and director for Dataquest's Computer Systems and Peripherals programs, in a prepared statement. European PC shipments totalled 7.5 million units in the first quarter of this year, up from 7.1 million for the same quarter last year, a growth rate of about six percent. However, of that total, desktop PC shipments only grew by about one percent over last year, delivering a blow to overall growth. "The deskbound PC clearly drives the European PC industry, and so a failure in deskbound growth rates has damped the whole market down," Seabrook, stated. "However, in contrast, mobile computer shipments grew 38 percent in the first quarter of 2000, a performance hampered by lack of supply rather than lack of demand." Compaq's market share dropped by two points, but it continues to lead the region, followed by Fujitsu Siemens and Dell. Compaq's market share topped 14 percent for the quarter, Fujitsu Siemens accounted for 10.8 percent of the market, and Dell hit 9.1 percent. Hewlett-Packard controlled 6.9 percent of the market. HP and Dell were, however, the only vendors in the top five to gain market share in Q1, according to Dataquest. The UK was the second-largest region in Europe for Q1, with shipments of 1.5 million units, up 8.9 percent from the same quarter last year. Germany continued to lead the pack with shipments of 1.7 million units. What do you think? Tell the Mailroom. And read what others have said. See techTrader for more technology investment news, plus quotes and research.