Acer overtook Dell as the world’s second-largest computer vendor during the third quarter, as the PC market showed signs of coming back to life, IDC said on Wednesday.
Global PC shipments grew 2.3 per ent from the same quarter a year earlier, to 78.1 million units. It was the first quarter this year in which PC shipments have grown, IDC said.
Acer’s shipments grew by a whopping 25.6 per cent to reach 10.96 million units, outpacing Dell, whose shipments declined 8.4 per cent to 9.95 million units. Acer “outperformed the market in virtually all regions,” IDC said.
Acer benefited from strong shipments during the back-to-school season, as prices for laptops fell and netbook shipments gained momentum, said Jay Chou, research manager at IDC.
Dell has not embraced low-cost netbooks as enthusiastically as Acer, Chou said. Acer benefited more from the competitive pricing environment for laptops and netbooks.
Acer ended the quarter with 14 per cent of the market, compared to Dell’s 12.7 per cent. Both companies trailed Hewlett-Packard, which retained its spot as the world’s top PC vendor. HP held 20.2 per cent of the market after shipping 15.79 million PCs, a year-over-year growth rate of 9.3 per cent.
HP is stronger in retail sales than Dell, which helped it generate stronger back-to-school sales.
Dell is stronger in sales to businesses, and it could rebound during a corporate PC refresh cycle that could happen in 2010, Chou said. Until then, Dell may struggle to keep up with competitors in unit shipments. The company saw solid growth in emerging markets, IDC noted, which was a positive sign.
Lenovo recorded strong growth of 18.2 per cent, giving it the fourth-place spot with PC shipments of 6.99 million. Toshiba was fifth, with shipments growing 6.9 per cent to 4.04 million.