Acer top for laptops in Europe

Acer is the laptop brand most in demand in the UK and Europe, relegating perennial favourites HP and Dell into second and third place.

Sales of Acer laptops rose by 39 per cent quarter-on-quarter, according to the latest analyst statistics. Laptop sales as a whole are climbing steadily -- albeit at a slower growth rate than that of Acer -- increasing by 29 per cent over the past year. Other manufacturers to have been particularly successful are Apple (up by 63 per cent year-on-year) and Sony (up by 47 per cent).

HP sells the most laptops globally, being the number-one vendor in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Dell is the global number two.

The figures, which were calculated by analyst firm DisplaySearch and released immediately after Christmas, assess the third quarter of 2006. PC sales were expected to dip in the fourth quarter due to a succession of laptop battery fires and delays to the Vista operating system.