Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Dell and Apple Make Gains in Q4 PC Market

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Total worldwide PC shipments in the fourth quarter amounted to 76.2 million units, up 11.7% sequentially and up 14.2% compared to the same quarter in 2006.

The quarter was strong for top-tier U.S. PC brands, with Hewlett-Packard padding its dominance in the global market, Dell showing signs of a resurgence and Apple coming on strong, according to iSuppli Corp.

In the fourth quarter, H-P’s global PC shipments rose to 14.6 million units, up 25.5% year-over-year, says the research firm. It marked the sixth straight quarter H-P led the worldwide PC shipments rankings.

“Hewlett-Packard has capitalized on its strong channel presence and its strength in the fast-growing notebook PC segment, allowing it to attain and maintain market leadership,” said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for iSuppli.

Dell saw its fortunes improve considerably in the quarter, with shipments of 11.3 million units, up 17.4% year-over-year. This compares to 1.5% growth during the third quarter. Dell’s shipments were up 14.1% sequentially, the largest percentage increase among the top six brands, says iSuppli.

Apple ranked No. 6, a position the company has held since the third quarter of 2007. The company’s total fourth-quarter PC shipments grew 39.3% year-over-year, with equally strong growth for its desktop and notebook businesses.

As a result of its acquisition of Gateway in the fourth quarter, Acer achieved the No. 3 ranking, moving ahead of Lenovo. Incorporating shipments from Gateway, Acer shipped 7.2 million PCs in the fourth quarter, representing year-over-year growth of 25% on a combined basis. Lenovo shipped 5.8 million units, and in the process achieved a year-over-year growth rate of 21.3%, according to iSuppli.

Toshiba maintained its position as the fifth-largest PC OEM on a worldwide basis, shipping 3.1 million units, up 25.3% year-over-year.

H-P achieved the No. 1 shipment ranking for 2007, knocking rival Dell from the top spot. H-P shipped 49.6 million PCs in 2007, a 29.7% increase, more than double the growth rate achieved by the whole PC market, says the firm.

Dell achieved 2007 PC shipments of 39.7 million, up 1.7%. H-P and Dell achieved market shares of 18.5% and 14.8% respectively for the year.

Apple’s unit shipments grew 33.6% in 2007, giving the company a 2.8% share of the global market.

On the Gateway acquisition, Acer overtook Lenovo for third with a market share of 9.1%.

Lenovo achieved 7.5% market share, up from 7% in 2006. Rounding out the top five was Toshiba, which also had impressive growth of 22.5% year-over-year, giving the company a market share of 4.2%.

Further shuffling could be in store if Acer’s planned acquisition of Packard Bell is approved by European regulatory bodies.

Acer’s shipments have been adjusted to incorporate Gateway’s shipments for the fourth quarter, the full year 2007, and all historical quarters.