NPD Group: Top 5 Desktop Brands Of Q2 Running Windows 8

On The Way Up

There has been growing consumer interest in Windows 8, and some vendors have taken advantage of this, pushing the operating system on its flagship desktop computers.

Thanks to this growth in demand, the cost for machines running on Windows 8 have actually gone up on average within the past year. The average price for a desktop computer running on Windows 8 in the second quarter of this year was $612.86, up from $579.82, an increase of 5.7 percent from the year-ago quarter, according to NPD.

Here are the top five desktop computer brands of the second quarter running Windows 8.

5. Asus

Starting off our list is Asus, which actually grew in market share with a unit share point change of 1.0.

Asus Windows 8 desktop computers had a market share of 2.8 percent in the second quarter, after holding 1.8 percent of the market in the year-ago quarter.

Despite the growth, Asus fell from fourth in second-quarter market share last year to fifth this year.

The Taiwanese company sells a variety of desktop computers running on Windows 8, including a line of all-in-ones, featuring HD touch-screen displays.

4. Acer

Acer fell from third to fourth in market share in the second quarter with a unit share point change of 1.1.

The Taiwanese company had a 5.4 percent market share in the second quarter of this year, up from 4.4 percent last year.

Acer's line of Aspire desktops all run on Windows 8, and have gained traction in the market thanks to its competitively priced machines. Acer's all-in-one models and towers appeal to both consumer, business and educational markets.

3. Dell

Dell's desktop computer business really took off this past year, moving up from fifth to third on NPD's top five list.

In the second quarter, Dell had a market share of 7.3 percent of Windows 8 desktop computers, up from 1.1 percent in the year-ago quarter. This is a unit share point change of 6.2.

Dell's OptiPlex 3020 desktop computers were the company's best-selling Windows 8 desktop machines, ranking seventh on NPD's list of top desktop models running on the Microsoft operating system.

2. Lenovo

Lenovo's Windows 8 desktop computers took a big hit to its market share, with a unit point share of -12.3.

The Chinese company had a strong market share of 28.7 percent in the second quarter of this year, but this is down from last year's market share of 41 percent.

Lenovo's TCentre M73 was its most popular desktop computer, and third on NPD's list of best-selling models. Lenovo's TCentre M83 and TCentre M93p were ninth on the same list.

The rise in market share by Dell and HP, among others, cut into Lenovo's slice of the market.

1. Hewlett-Packard

HP remains at the top of the market, with a 55.6 percent market share in the second quarter of this year. This is up 4.3 unit share points from 51.2 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Coming stocked with Windows 8.1, the company's ProDesk 400 G1 tower desktop was the most popular Windows 8 model on the market in the second quarter, according to NPD.

HP had five other models appear in the top 10 of HP's list of most popular Windows 8 desktop computers in the second quarter, including the Pro 3500, ProDesk 400 G1 and 600 G1. HP's Pro 6305 and Pro 3500 also appeared on the list.