EL SEGUNDO, CA – PC demand continues to defy economic and financial woes, with second-quarter worldwide unit shipments growing 14.5% year-over-year to reach 70.2 million units. No changes occurred sequentially among the top five OEM rankings, says iSuppli Corp.
 
Overall PC shipments came in higher than forecast, said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, compute platforms for iSuppli. “iSuppli maintains its enthusiasm for the PC market in 2008, despite the challenging conditions. iSuppli’s latest forecast for the 2008 PC market estimates unit growth of 12.5%.”
 
“Hewlett-Packard continued its impressive start to 2008, with shipments of 13.4 million units, maintaining its worldwide No. 1 ranking at a share of 19.1%,” Wilkins said. “However, the second quarter represented Dell’s fourth consecutive quarter of market share growth, with the company delivering shipments of 11.2 million units and a share of 16%.”
 
Acer and Lenovo continued their fierce scrap, although with no change in rank, says the firm. Acer held onto third place with a 9.5% share, and Lenovo maintained fourth place, with a 7.9% share.
 
Lenovo proved Dell wasn’t the only top five OEM that could grow share, delivering a 1% sequential increase in share to reach 7.9%.
 
The second quarter was the fourth consecutive quarter during which Dell gained market share, noted iSuppli. 

MORRISVILLE, NC – Juki Corp., a provider of automated assembly lines, closed the third quarter with record growth of more than 35% year-over-year.
 
Sales of surface mount placement systems grew nearly 40%, complemented by more than 20% growth in the selective solder line.
 
Juki reported the strong start of the FX-3 high-speed placement system was a major factor in 2008 sales. 
 

The electronics company, one of the largest in the world, said last month it would switch to its more common brand, "Panasonic," over its traditional names, which includes "National" in Japan.

The changeover will be complete by the end of March 2010, the firm said.