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HP, Acer trounce Dell in PC sales

Hewlett-Packard's third quarter performance has extended its lead in the global PC market, according to Market Research Firm iSuppli.
Written by Suzanne Tindal, Contributor

Hewlett-Packard's third quarter performance has extended its lead in the global PC market, according to Market Research Firm iSuppli.

For the fifth quarter in a row, HP has taken the lion's share of the market, gaining the number one spot with a market share of 19.6 percent -- up from 16.5 percent in the second quarter.

HP racked up a massive increase of shipped units, from 9.9 million units in Q3 2006 to 13.1 million in Q3 2007 -- resulting in growth of 32.7 percent, considerably larger than the 13.8 percent growth of the global PC market.

Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst at iSuppli, attributes the manufacturer's success to its ability to capitalise on the strong laptop market and to use its channel correctly.

Dell on the other hand has "underperformed" the market according to iSuppli, increasing its shipped units by just 1.5 percent.

Since last year, Dell's market share has fallen from 16.3 percent to 14.6 percent. This is despite Michael Dell returning to take the helm in February.

Dell is feeling the heat from all sides, with Acer muscling in on its' laptop market share and replacing Dell as number two in the portable computer market.

In the desktop market, Acer dwarfed even HP's stellar performance, with the number of shipments in Q3 2007 increasing from 3.2 million to 5.4 million units, when compared to the same period last year. That corresponds to a growth of 68.8 percent, taking Acer's market share to 7.9 percent.

"Acer is executing well in the channel and offering aggressive pricing," Wilkins said in a statement.

Despite its performance, Acer was unable to usurp Lenovo's position as number three in the global PC market, but iSuppli believes that it is only a matter of time -- especially since the company's merger with Gateway.

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