HP heads pack in Q1 worldwide PC shipments

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 4/19/2007

Analysts agree, worldwide PC shipments were on the rise in Q1, thanks to growth in portable and consumer demand.

In separate reports released Wednesday, market research firms International Data Corp. (IDC) and Gartner Inc. pegged the year-over-year growth of worldwide PC shipments at 10.9 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively.

According to IDC, year-over-year growth improved from Q4 in all regions, with Europe and Asia/Pacific, excluding Japan, showing the biggest improvements versus forecasts. Japan recovered from a double-digit decline in Q4, IDC said, but was still the only region with declining volume as the United States moved back into growth mode.

"The strong first quarter is a good indicator of the health of the industry," Loren Loverde, director of IDC's worldwide quarterly PC tracker, said in a statement. "Growth is likely to stay in double-digits over the next two years although it will be concentrated in portables and international markets."

Hewlett Packard led the industry once again in Q1, with IDC and Gartner reporting its market share at 19.1 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively. Dell Inc. came in second in both firms’ rankings, with IDC and Gartner reporting the company's market share at 15.2 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively.

However, the two firms disagreed on the third placeholder in Q1's PC vendor shipment rankings. IDC's ranking placed Lenovo and Acer tied at third with 6.7 percent market share each; Gartner, on the other hand, placed Acer at third with a 6.8 percent market share and Lenovo at fourth with a 6.3 percent market share. Both IDC and Gartner ranked Toshiba fifth on their lists, with a reported 4.3 percent market share and a 4.1 percent market share, respectively.