Dell Beats Compaq to Become No. 1 PC Maker
in U.S. in 3rd Qtr
10/24/99 9:07:00 PM
Source: Bloomberg News
San Jose, California, Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Dell Computer Corp. for the
first time surpassed Compaq Computer Corp. to became the No. 1
personal-computer maker in the U.S., though Compaq kept its worldwide
lead, two market-research firms said.
Dell sold almost 2 million PCs in the U.S. in the third quarter, giving it
17.1 percent of the market, according to Dataquest. Compaq sold 1.78
million, taking 15.3 percent. A year ago, Compaq's share was 15 percent
and Dell's was 13.4 percent. International Data Corp. also said Dell took
first place.
Dell's move into the lead in the U.S. comes
as Compaq, Hewlett-Packard Co. and
other PC makers are focusing more on
making money on the machines instead of
selling at bargain prices to gain market
share, Dataquest said. It also shows that
Dell's strategy of selling only by phone and
online is still working, even as others start
their own direct sales to customers.
''Dell reached a significant milestone in its
history by for the first time replacing
Compaq as the number one vendor in the
U.S.,'' said Charles Smulders, an analyst
at Dataquest.
U.S. shipments for all PC makers rose
22.7 percent to 11.7 million units from a
year ago, Dataquest said.
Worldwide PC shipments rose 23.2
percent to 28.6 million units in the third quarter, boosted by rising sales
in the U.S. and rebounding demand in Asia, according to Dataquest. IDC
said the global market grew 25 percent to 27.9 million units.
IDC also cited strong demand in Asia, saying shipments in Japan rose 37
percent, while the rest of Asia grew 38 percent.
''The 'nearly free' PC model, combined with strong demand in the
education sector, continues to fuel growth in many countries throughout
Asia Pacific,'' IDC analysts John Brown said.
''Nearly free'' PCs are those subsidized by Internet service providers who
sign up buyers for online access at a monthly fee.
Global Market Share
Dell has yet to catch Compaq on a worldwide basis, both IDC and
Dataquest said. Both showed Dell beating International Business
Machines Corp. to become No. 2 in the world.
Dell's share of the world market rose to 10.8 percent in the third quarter
from 8.2 percent a year earlier, Dataquest said. IBM's share fell to 7.6
percent from 8.4 percent. Compaq's share of the world market fell to 12.8
percent from 13.4 percent.
IBM this month said it will stop using retailers in the U.S. to sell personal
computers, hoping online sales can narrow losses in its PC business.
The company will begin selling its Aptiva PCs to U.S. consumers
exclusively over the World Wide Web on Jan. 1. The computer maker will
continue to use retailers to sell Aptiva models in the rest of the world and
will sell its ThinkPad notebook PCs through retailers in the U.S. and
abroad.
IBM is cutting 5 percent to 10 percent of its 10,000-person PC group and
combining its consumer and commercial PC operations to reduce costs.
PCs accounted for almost $1 billion in losses last year and $311 million
in pretax losses so far this year.
Hewlett, Gateway
Hewlett-Packard ranked fourth both in U.S. and in the world in the third
quarter, according to IDC and Dataquest.
Gateway Inc. rounded out Dataquest's list of the top five manufacturers in
the world with shipments of 1.24 million units. IDC said NEC Corp. and
its Packard Bell NEC Inc. subsidiary took fifth worldwide with shipments
of 1.38 million PCs.
Dell and Gateway were the fastest-growing PC makers on Dataquest's
list. Dell's worldwide shipments grew 61.6 percent during the quarter,
while Gateway's rose 39.6 percent, Dataquest said. Compaq grew a
much slower 17.8 percent worldwide.
Dataquest, a unit of Gartner Group Inc., is based in San Jose, California.
IDC is based in Framingham, Massachusetts. |
