HP Stays in PC Lead; Apple Grows in U.S. - Report

Overall, PC shipments worldwide grew by 15.5 percent in the quarter, driven largely by adoption of mobile PCs globally, reported Framingham, Mass.-based IDC.

Gartner Group, Stamford, Conn., also reported its market share numbers that were largely in line with IDC's, although it pegged worldwide PC unit growth at 14.4 percent.

HP saw its global market share rise from 17 percent in the third quarter of 2006 to 19.6 percent, while Dell saw its worldwide market share drop from 16.9 percent to 15.2 percent on a year-over year basis.

Taipei, Taiwan-based Acer, which recently completed its takeover of Gateway, saw year-over-year growth in PC unit shipments of 59.2 percent, IDC said. Acer's market share also jumped, from 5.9 percent during the third quarter of 2006 to 8.1 percent as of the third quarter this year. Acer is now breathing down the neck of Lenovo, Raleigh, N.C., which finished the quarter with a market share of 8.2 percent.

IDC noted some possible warning signs for Acer, though.

"Despite the elevated growth, volume in the United States was down from Q2 and roughly even with the first quarter -- suggesting Acer's U.S. expansion may face more pressure from competitors as volume grows," IDC said in a statement. Gateway's U.S. market share decreased by 14 percent in the quarter, IDC said.

In the U.S., Dell, Round Rock, Texas, maintained its top market share position in the quarter but ceded some ground to HP. Dell now owns 28 percent of U.S. market share, compared to 30.9 percent a year ago, while HP is up to 24.3 percent in the U.S., compared to 21.8 percent a year ago.

Gartner Group, in reporting its numbers, also found good news and bad news for Dell, saying, "Dell achieved its first worldwide shipment increase in four quarters, but its growth rate was well below the worldwide average."

In the U.S., Apple also continued to see strong growth in the PC space. IDC lists Apple in third place in U.S. PC market share, with 6.3 percent of the market; a year ago, Apple shipped 5.7 percent of all the PCs in the U.S.