IDC: Top 5 U.S. PC Brands In Q2

Not Dead Yet

This may come as a surprise, but the PC market is improving, and in the U.S it's growing, according to IDC.

Second-quarter worldwide PC shipments declined 1.7 percent from the year-ago quarter, which was the smallest drop in the market since second-quarter 2012. The U.S. market actually expanded in the second quarter, with 6.9 percent year-on-year growth.

IDC analysts say upgrades of Windows XP systems boosted shipments and Chromebooks and ultraslims helped sales numbers.

With back-to-school sales and the holiday season still to come, the PC market could finish the year on a strong note.

5. Toshiba

Toshiba kicks off our slideshow with the second-highest growth in market share of all venders.

The Japanese company went from 5.4 percent market share to 6.1 percent, selling over a million units. That's up 20.6 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Toshiba made a strong push to build upon its large enterprise presence and also drew some attention with Windows 8.

The Toshiba Satellite is one of the most popular machines from the brand, as it is light, has a popular touchscreen and is priced competitively, while coming stocked with Windows 8.

4. Apple

Surprisingly, Apple was one of the few companies whose market share fell, and the only one of the top five venders. Apple dropped from 10.9 percent to 10 percent market share from last year's quarter after selling over 1.6 million units in the second quarter of this year. The company fell from third to fourth in PC market share in the U.S. for a loss of 1.7 percent of its market.

Although the company didn't exactly release any new, innovative products, Apple did refresh its MacBook Air line in April by releasing a cheaper version of the product, and did the same with the iMac in mid-June. Perhaps we'll see a device in the coming months.

3. Lenovo

Lenovo, despite not being number one, is the big winner of the quarter with 24.7 percent growth of its market from last year's quarter.

The Chinese company has the highest market share of any PC vender internationally with 19.6 percent, but is third in the United States. Lenovo sold over 1.9 million units in the U.S in the second quarter, growing to 11.5 percent of the market from 9.8 percent in the year-ago period.

Much like Toshiba, who had the second-highest market share growth from last year, Lenovo's offering of Windows 8 and strides in the enterprise space, helped boost its numbers.

2. Dell

The Round Rock, Texas company had 25.7 percent of the U.S. market in the second quarter, selling over 4.2 million units. This is an improvement from last year's market share by 12.9 percent, as Dell had 24.3 percent of last year's market.

IDC based the growth by Dell on ’better alignment with channel partners and internal restructuring.’

In addition to being the number two PC vender in the country in the second quarter, Dell was also the third biggest PC vender worldwide, shipping over 10.4 million units.

1. HP

The top vender on our list according to IDC, is HP.

Hewlett-Packard sold over 4.5 million units in the U.S. during the second quarter, for a 27.3 percent stake of the market. This shows 15.6 percent growth of the company's U.S. PC market, as it had 25.2 percent market share in last year's quarter, and was the leader of the market then as well.

Internationally, HP was second to only Lenovo, with 18.3 percent of the market, selling over 13.6 million units.

Similar to Dell, IDC pinned HP's success on improved channel partner relationships and internal restructuring.