HP currently the number one PC maker

Oct. 15, 2009

Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

HP still remains the top PC maker with slightly over 20.15 percent of computers shipped globally, while Dell dropped to 12.7 percent, according to fresh new data published by IDC.

But since Acer acquired Gateway and began its aggressive attack on retail laptops in the U.S and Europe two years ago, it has now managed to gain the number two position.

Meanwhile Dell has fallen from the top vendor of PCs as recently as mid-2006 to No. 3, as it navigates the rapidly changing personal computer market.

However, there were even more disappointments for Dell. Besides falling to third globally, Dell also dropped from first to second place in shipments in the U.S. Hewlett-Packard sold the most PCs in the U.S in the third quarter, with 25.5 percent of shipments, compared to Dell's 24.9 percent.

Loren Loverde, program manager of IDC's PC Tracker says "it is interesting to see this market leadership by Acer. It's reflective of the changes in the pricing--the way we've shifted to lower cost portables, particularly in the consumer and retail segments, which is where Dell wasn't as strong. HP has almost always targeted the consumer market more than Dell and still does."

When reached for comment, a Dell representative said only "as we've said for some time, we're focused on profitable growth, not simply share results."

One of the main variables that played a big part in the equation has been the looming retail launch of Windows 7. IDC said it doesn't anticipate a huge rise in PC purchases directly related to the operating system release, at least immediately. Consumers and PC users alike still prefer Windows XP by a wide margin, as sales and overall adoption rates of Vista have been dismal.

There was also good news for companies not named Acer. For the first time in a year, PC makers' shipments grew. During the third quarter, sales enjoyed a 2 percent growth compared to the same quarter a year ago. It's an encouraging sign, especially when IDC analysts were anticipating a 3 percent decline for this quarter.

Overall, consumers have been a huge driver of that as the sales of notebooks, mini-notebooks and Netbooks have all continued to increase somewhat.

Commercial purchases of PCs are still very slow to pick up. However, IDC expects this trend to change over the next couple of quarters.

Loverde said "we didn't really expect a large reaction in a sense of shipments being synchronized around Windows 7 anyway. But fourth-quarter growth last year was negative and the growth during the upcoming fourth quarter of 2009 as the economy improves is likely to be slightly better but not necessarily directly tied to Windows 7 either, so it could be a mix bag there."

There's no question that the next few quarters could still hold a few surprises for the players involved.

Also, the looming Christmas and Holiday period could also tip the scale either way as well, as consumers try to get a better deal in this increasingly crowded and competitive market.

Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

Source: IDC.

Bookmark this Tech Blog by clicking here.

         Tech Blog is hosted by Avantex