Gartner: Top 5 Best-Selling Global PC Brands Of Q2

PC Market Shrinks

The global PC market plummeted nearly 10 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to Gartner, as vendors shipped more than 68.4 million units, down from more than 75.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Gartner said this was the biggest PC shipment decline since the third quarter of 2013.

The research firm said the market is coming off of strong numbers last year when consumers were buying more machines as they were migrating from Windows XP. Conversely, retailers this past quarter were reducing their inventory in preparation for the release of Windows 10.

The strengthening of the U.S. dollar also forced vendors to increase their prices in some markets due to exchange-rate issues.

Gartner forecasts a 4.4 percent decline in PC shipments on the year.

5. Acer Group

Acer Group was the fifth-leading worldwide PC vendor in the second quarter, according to Gartner, with a market share of 6.7 percent, but took a large hit in shipments from last year.

The company shipped more than 4.5 million units in the June quarter, down 20.2 percent from the over 5.7 million units shipped in the year-ago quarter.

Acer has seen growth in its Chromebook business, but was likely impacted by exchange rates in foreign markets. In the U.S., Acer was not one of the top five PC vendors in terms of market share for the region, according to Gartner.

4. Asus

Asus was the fourth-leading global PC vendor in the second quarter with a 6.8 percent market share. The company shipped more than 4.6 million units in the three-month stretch ending June 30, down 10.2 percent from the fewer than 5.2 million it shipped in the year-ago quarter.

Despite a small decline in global market share, Asus saw a boost in share in the U.S., growing from 4.9 percent to 5.1 percent. Like many vendors in the quarter, the Transformer Book maker has been challenged by foreign exchange rates, and retailers reducing inventory in anticipation of the upcoming release of Windows 10.

3. Dell

Dell was the third-leading PC vendor worldwide with a market share of 14 percent in the second quarter, up from 13.3 percent in the same period last year. The Round Rock, Texas-based company shipped fewer than 9.6 million units in the June quarter, down 4.9 percent from more than 10 million units in the same period last year.

Dell, the second-leading PC vendor in the U.S., saw a "relatively moderate" decline in the EMEA markets, Gartner said, adding that it was impacted less than other Windows PC vendors by the Windows 10 inventory declines as Dell has less of a presence in the consumer market.

At this year's CES event, Dell announced its XPS 13 laptop, featuring a 13-inch display on the body of a laptop that normally ships with an 11-inch screen.

2. Hewlett-Packard

HP was the second-best-selling PC vendor worldwide in terms of market share during the second quarter, with a 17.4 percent share. The company shipped just less than 12 million units, down 9.5 percent from the fewer than 13.2 million units it shipped in the same period last year.

HP's PC shipments decline came after five consecutive quarters of growth, Gartner said. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar led to major currency and exchange-rate issues for HP as it saw a "steep decline" in the EMEA markets.

Despite remaining the top PC vendor in the U.S., with 26.2 percent market share, HP was hit with a 10.1 percent decline in shipments this past quarter as retailers reduced their inventory in preparation for the Windows 10 launch.

1. Lenovo

Lenovo was the top PC vendor worldwide in the second quarter of 2015, with a 19.7 percent market share, up from 19.1 percent in the year-ago quarter. The Chinese company shipped just more than 13.4 million units in the June quarter, down 6.8 percent from the same period last year.

Gartner said this is Lenovo's first year-over-year PC shipments decline since the second quarter of 2013, adding that the company saw double-digit shipment declines in the EMEA, Latin America and Japanese markets.

This was partially offset by Lenovo being the only top PC vendor to see growth in the U.S. market, where it was the third-leading vendor. Lenovo had a 13.3 percent market share in the region after shipping more than 2 million units, up 9.7 percent from over 1.8 million shipments in the year-ago quarter.