Worldwide shipments of personal computers rose 16 percent in the third quarter, the highest since 2000, because of stronger sales of notebook PCs, market researcher IDC said. Gartner Inc estimated shipments increased 14 percent.
Shipments rose to 38.4 million, compared with 33.2 million in the same period a year earlier, IDC said. Dell Inc was the leading vendor in the third quarter, with 17.4 percent market share, compared with Hewlett-Packard Co's 17.1 percent, IDC said.
IDC had predicted 10 percent growth this quarter while Gartner forecast 9 percent. The increase was because of strong sales of notebook PCs and to consumers in the US, Asia and Europe, said analysts at both firms. Hewlett-Packard made a big push to sell more PCs in US retail stores, said Loren Loverde, an analyst for Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC.
"We got giants in the industry slugging it out and we saw a lot of consumer activity," Loverde said. "If we get business spending on top of this, we may be able to sustain this level of growth."
Sales weren't as strong to US corporations while European companies benefited from a weak dollar, Gartner analyst Charles Smulders said. Prices might increase as demand grow for key components such as flat-panel monitors, he said.
Dell increased its share from 15.7 percent in the same period a year earlier while HP's share was 15.4 percent in the same period last year, IDC said.
Gartner estimated total shipments at 42.5 million, up from 37.3 million a year ago. International Business Machines Corp, Fujitsu Ltd combined with Fujitsu Siemens Computers Holding BV, and Toshiba Corp retained the third, fourth and fifth positions, Gartner and IDC both said.
US shipments increased 19 percent to 15.7 million units, Gartner said.
Dell's lead in the US rose to 27.4 percent of the market from 26.1 percent a year earlier, Gartner said. HP's US share rose to 19.4 percent from 17.3 percent.
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