Three Romanian brands, 40% of PC market

Three of the top five computer vendors in Romania in Q3 are Romanian companies. The latest IDC survey, which considered the systems sold by the companies under their own brand throughout July-September 2003 shows the top five is comprised of Flamingo, Hewlett-Packard, K-Tech, Comrace and IBM. The three companies that build and sell their own computer brands, that is Flamingo, K-Tech (the owner of the Ultra Pro chain) and Comrace, claimed nearly 40% of the PC market in the third quarter. Flamingo saw the highest sales of all and its market share reached 21.8%. Second top maker was Hewlett-Packard - 12.5% , followed by K-Tech - 10.5%. Fourth leading player is Comrace - 7.6% and IBM comes fifth with 5.6%. "Fl amingo had a spectacular trend in the quarter partly due to some big contracts it closed," Laurentiu Popescu, IDC analyst explains. Flamingo says it will sell 250% more PCs in 2003 than it did in 2002. It made $63.7 million turnover in 2002 and estimates to make $72 million this year. ZF