APPLE IN FRONT AS SALES OF MULTIMEDIA PCS LEAP.

Byline: Tom Murphy Bloomberg Business News

Apple Computer Inc. led the market for multimedia computers for a third consecutive year as global sales of the machines more than doubled to 20.8 million units in 1995.

Apple captured a 19 percent market share for the computers that combine text, sound and complex graphics, market researcher Dataquest said. Even so, Apple and all other U.S. PC makers saw their market shares decline as non-U.S. companies gained ground.

Demand was strongest in Asia, where sales jumped almost fivefold. Sales more than doubled in Europe, and rose 35 percent in the U.S. last year.

``The Asian markets really embraced the multimedia PC in 1995,'' said Bruce Ryon, Dataquest's director of multimedia research. ``Multimedia will be integrated at a much higher rate in the Asian markets than in the U.S.''

Multimedia machines accounted for 42 percent of PC sales in the U.S. during the past 18 months. In Asia, they already account for more than half of all personal computers sold, Ryon said.

The survey brought a glimmer of good news for Cupertino-based Apple, which has been struggling to overcome a $740 million fiscal second-quarter loss. The company also expects losses for the rest of 1996 as it pares its work force and product line to reduce expenses.

However, Apple's 19 percent share was down from 23 percent in 1994. Packard Bell Electronics Inc. finished second with a 14 percent share, down from 19 percent. Compaq Computer Corp. had 9.3 percent, down from 12 percent. International Business Machines Corp. had 7.4 percent compared with 8 percent in 1994.