iSupply Says Acer Tops Lenovo, Dell May Have Bottomed

New data from research house iSupply has just come across the transom, saying first quarter PC numbers now put Acer ahead of Lenovo and suggested that Dell -- though it continued to lose PC market share -- may have seen the worst of its losses.

About Acer, iSupply says:

PC shipments rose by 45.8 percent to reach 4.2 million units in the first quarter of 2007, up from 2.9 million in the first quarter of 2006.

Due to this robust growth, Acer in the first quarter attained a market share of 6.8 percent, up from 5 percent in the first quarter of 2006. This gave Acer a 0.4 percentage point market-share lead over China's Lenovo, and put the Taiwanese PC OEM in the No. 3 position in the global PC market for the first time ever, up from No. 4 in the fourth quarter.

Looking at Dell, which it said saw a 6.8 percent decline in PC unit shipments in the first quarter, iSupply noted the Round Rock, Texas-based company's recent moves to expand its channel sales through solution providers and Wal-Mart. Matthew Wilkins, an iSupply analyst, also tossed cold water on recent claims by Acer that it would pass Dell in market share this year:

The market-share gulf between No. 3 Acer and second-placed placed Dell is huge, at 7.6 percentage points. To threaten Dell's No.2 ranking, Acer needs to double its shipments.

Here is iSupply's breakdown of global PC shipments during the first quarter:

HP: 10.7 million units shipped, 26.5 percent annual growth, 17.2 percent market share;

Dell: 8.9 million units shipped, 6.8 percent decline, 14.4 percent market share;

Acer: 4.2 million units shipped, 45.8 percent growth, 6.8 percent market share;

Lenovo: 3.9 million units shipped, 16.3 percent growth, 6.4 percent market share;

Toshiba: 2.56 million units shipped, 13.8 percent growth, 4.1 percent market share;

Others: 31.9 million units shipped, 3.9 percent growth, 51.2 percent market share.