Lifted by fast-growing notebook shipments, Taiwan’s Acer Inc. grabbed the No. 2 spot in the global PC market for the first time over Dell Inc., according to iSuppli Corp.
The market researcher also confirmed that the PC market is starting to rebound, and now expects this year’s sales to be almost flat compared to the prior year’s.
Boosted by a 17 per cent year-over-year growth in notebook (including netbook) shipments, Acer had 13.4 per cent of the 79.9 million PCs shipped globally in the third quarter, said iSuppli.
That helped it leap ahead of Dell. Hurt by sluggish corporate IT spending, Dell’s sales fell 5.9 per cent and it recorded a 12.9 per cent share.
Another Asian manufacturer, Lenovo Corp., also had a standout quarter. On the rebound, Lenovo’s shipments growing 17.2 per cent year-over-year, giving it fourth place.
“Acer’s rise to the No. 2 rank in the global PC business reflects not only its strong performance in the notebook segment, but also the historic rise of Asia as a primary force in the computer industry,” said iSuppli analyst Matthew Wilkins in a statement.
Acer and Lenovo were ranked just No. 6 and No. 8, respectively, in 2003, Wilkins said.
“The Asian manufacturers are a growing force in the global PC business due to their aggressive pricing along with their ability to quickly react and embrace new developments, such as the netbook PC,” Wilkins said. iSuppli is the third market tracker to note Acer’s rise to number two. Both IDC Corp. and Gartner Inc. had already ranked Acer ahead of Dell.
HP remained atop the heap for the 13th straight quarter, with 19.9 per cent of the market. Toshiba is No. 5 globally, with a 5.0 per cent share, iSuppli said.
iSuppli also said that Q3 shipments overall grew year-over-year (1.1 per cent) for the first time in a year, while growing 19 per cent from the second quarter.
