INTERVIEW:
Domanda 1
What is Dataquest?
Risposta
Dataquest was founded some 25 years ago in the heart of the then emerging Silicon Valley
as a market research firm in the area of semiconductors. Within that 25 years Dataquest
has diversified into covering all sectors of information technology. Our prime role is to
advise vendors of information technology on what the market trends are. We cover
everything from semiconductors to hardware, to services, etc., including
telecommunications. Around two years ago Dataquest was integrated into the Gardner Group,
a company with whom we already had some sort of relationship. Dataquest currently has some
250 analysts on the ground covering the markets, analysts in Europe and the United States,
Silicon Valley, Asia, in fact across the globe.
Domanda 2
And now there is the latest research into the PC industry in Europe. Can you outline the
results?
Risposta
Four weeks after the end of the third quarter in the European PC industry Dataquest
released its data and analyses to our customers and beyond. We’re very glad that the
quarter was very, very good. In fact, the market grew by some 17 percent, and that’s
big if you bear in mind that the PC industry is not young.; it started some twenty years
age in Silicon Valley. It has become very big and in many respects it is already mature.
There are not many industries of this nature that continue to grow at 17 percent. In fact,
we think that 17 percent is the beginning of a new cycle. We have analysed the history of
the last 10 - 15 years and concluded that the average cycle in the PC industry lasted some
two and a half to three years, and we’ve observed that probably we are at the
beginning of a new cycle. This means that the prospects for growth look good. Both the
home market and the professional market grew very well. So there is room, we think, for
optimism in the PC industry. I think the other interesting point is that according to our
preliminary figures, Europe probably grew faster than many other region in the world. This
is another reason to be quite bullish about Europe.
Domanda 3
Which sector is growing the fastest?
Risposta
The fastest growing sector is the desk-bound, which is a combination of desk-site and
desktop PCs. One reason for this fast growth was the good state of the consumer market and
consumers still buy primarily desk-bound personal computers.
Domanda 4
What information do you have regarding Italy?
Risposta
Italy was growing very well and outperformed the European average. Our numbers show that
Italy grew by 25 percent in units and that is very good. We are pretty bullish about the
prospects of the Italian market as well. The prime driver of any growth is the economics.
This industry is no longer led principally by technology. In the past technology was a
step function and markets grew along with the step functions in technology. Increasingly,
the market is a gradual technology-driven market, which means that primary indicators such
as economic indicators drive the market.
Domanda 5
What’s the position of Apple Computers now?
Risposta
We have been tracking personal computers for well over fifteen years and now for the first
time Apple is no longer in the top ten in Europe. Apple still has some good positions in
some European countries but on the European average Apple is no longer among the top ten
players. It’s a pretty significant observation here.
Domanda 6
Do you think that the business market will replace the PC with a multimedia PC?
Risposta
We see multimedia PCs primarily going into homes. But of course as multimedia capabilities
become part of the standard PC, they will go into companies as well.
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