Writing Tip
In task 1 you have to give a fairly technical description. In task 2 you must write an essay or argument for a university teacher, or an essay for a non-specialist reader. For both tasks you must use formal academic English. Write formally even when stating your own ideas; make use of the passive for descriptions and use full forms (e.g. they are rather than they’re).
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table below shows the worldwide market share of the notebook computer market for manufacturers in the years 2006 and 2007.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Model answer
The table gives information on the market share of notebook computer manufacturers for two consecutive years, 2006 and 2007.
In both years, HP was clearly the market leader, selling 31.4% of all notebook computers in 2006, and slightly more (34%) in 2007. This is a greater market share than its two closest competitors, Dell and Acer, added together.
Dell increased its market share from 16.6% in 2006 to 20.2% in 2007. In contrast, Acer saw its share of the market decline slightly from 11.6% to 10.7%.
The other companies listed each had a much smaller share of the market. Toshiba’s share increased from 6.2% in 2006 to 7.3% in 2007, whereas Lenovo’s decreased slightly from 6.6% to 6.2%. Fujitsu-Siemens’ share more than halved from 2006 to 2007: from 4.8% of the market to only 2.3%.
Other notebook computer manufacturers accounted for 22.8% of the market in 2006 – more than all the companies mentioned except HP. However, in 2007 the other companies only made 19.3% of notebook computer sales – less than both HP and Dell.
(174 words)
