Hewlett-Packard Co surpassed Dell Computer Corp in worldwide shipments of personal computers in the fourth quarter, aided by stronger-than-expected consumer purchases during the holidays, market researcher IDC said.
Hewlett-Packard had 16.1 percent of shipments, or 6.17 million units, up from 15.5 percent in the third quarter, IDC said. Dell slipped to 15.7 percent from 16 percent.
Computer makers shipped 38.4 million PCs, a 4 percent rise from a year earlier, as consumer spending increased, Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC said. Hewlett-Packard is usually strong in the fourth quarter, when consumer sales are higher, IDC analyst Loren Loverde said. Consumer purchases exceeded IDC's expectation, he said.
"It will be a close race for the next couple of quarters" between Dell and Hewlett-Packard, Loverde said in an interview.
Hewlett-Packard's market-share gain "is largely due to consumer sales and we may not see that strong consumer demand in the coming year." Dataquest Inc, a unit of Gartner Inc, also said that Hewlett-Packard led in fourth-quarter shipments, with 16.2 percent market share compared with Dell's 15.2 percent.
Dell shares fell 36 cents to US$25.60 as of 4pm on the NASDAQ. Hewlett-Packard shares dropped 26 cents to US$19.99 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Worldwide shipments in 2002 increased 1.5 percent, compared with a 4.2 percent decline in 2001. That decline was the first since 1985.
IDC and Dataquest disagreed on which PC maker won the title as the largest in 2002.
Dell remained the world's biggest PC maker with 20.7 million units shipped, or 15.2 percent market share, IDC said. That's a 20 percent increase from 2001, IDC said.
Hewlett-Packard in May bought Compaq Computer Corp for US$18.9 billion, and the IDC report included Compaq's shipments starting in the second quarter. The combined company shipped 18.4 million units for a 13.6 percent market share in 2002, IDC said.
Dataquest combined Hewlett-Packard and Compaq's shipments for the entire year, giving Hewlett-Packard the annual title, with 21.5 million units, or a 16.2 percent market share.
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