Worldwide PC shipments grew for the first time in five quarters. Dell held the largest share of 32 million PCs shipped, although second-place HP contests the election.
Dell regains PC lead--shipments rise
By John G. Spooner
Special to ZDNet News
October 17, 2002, 11:56 AM PT
update
Dell Computer has surpassed Hewlett-Packard to take the lead position in the global PC market, according to a new survey by research firm IDC.
The direct PC seller, based on unit shipments during the third quarter, just topped its rival with 16 percent of the global market, compared with HP's 15.5 percent, according to IDC analyst Roger Kay.
Out of more than 10 million units shipped between them, Dell moved just under 200,000 units more than HP during the quarter, Kay said.
HP, in a statement, argued that the two companies' third-quarter market share is a statistical tie and vowed to be more competitive with Dell in the future.
"In worldwide market share, it's a virtual dead heat. HP's PC business is back on the growth path less than six months after the merger, and we've still got plenty of cost efficiencies, business model improvements and product innovations still ahead of us," the statement said. "We've been taking aggressive action, and this report does not reflect recent PC price cuts, new product introductions and a number of major customer wins."
IDC is set to release complete data later Thursday. Rival research firm Gartner is also expected to release its own data on Thursday.
The overall PC market saw worldwide unit shipments increase 3.8 percent, the first year-over-year increase after five quarters of declines. Shipments rose 6 percent sequentially for a total of 32.6 million units.
During the second quarter--HP's first complete quarter after merging with Compaq Computer--HP managed a slight lead over Dell despite an overall decline in PC shipments. Dell had been No. 1 for five quarters, a streak that ended when HP took the top spot during the second quarter of this year.
HP claimed 15.1 percent of the market, while Dell grabbed 14.8 percent for the second quarter, according to IDC.
CEO Michael Dell cited teamwork as one of the reasons for landing the top spot in the third quarter.
"It's a credit to our team and we're proud of the rate at which we're winning new customers and...expanding our business with existing ones," Dell said in a statement. |
