Global PC shipments climb 17 percent

Worldwide shipments jumped 17 percent in the third quarter on better-than-expected sales of notebooks and low-cost PCs, market researchers Gartner Inc and IDC said today in separate reports.

Shipments to 55 million from 47 million a year earlier, Gartner said, while IDC reported that shipments jumped to 52.8 million from 45.1 million last year. Shipments topped both researchers' forecasts.

Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co stayed No. 1 and No. 2, helped by US back-to-school sales, both researchers said. The appeal of notebook PCs, as well as inexpensive desktops, sparked "extremely healthy growth," IDC analyst Richard Shim said.

"The markets are just starting to develop in China, Latin America and segments of Europe," Shim said. "You have low prices and not a lot of people who own them."

Dell its market share slightly to 18 percent. Its shipments rose 18 percent to 9.48 million. Gartner reported Dell's market share as 17 percent.

HP's share was 16 percent, also slightly higher than last year, IDC said. HP's shipments increased 18 percent to 8.46 million, IDC said. HP had a market share of 15 percent, according to Gartner.

China's Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), which in May bought the PC business of IBM Corp, had a market share of 7.7 percent, down from a combined 8 percent a year earlier, IDC said. Shipments rose 13 percent to 4.07 million. Gartner said Lenovo has a 7.4 percent share.

Taiwan-based Acer Inc climbed to fourth place, expanding its market share to 4.7 percent from 3.6 percent a year earlier, IDC said. Shipments rose 54 percent to 2.49 million.

"They're shipping like crazy," Shim said, particularly in Europe. "Acer is in that mentality of going for market share."

Fujitsu Siemens's share stayed the same at 3.8 percent as shipments rose 15 percent to 2 million, IDC said.