Top 6 Best-Selling Desktop Brands In Q2

Desktop Winners And Losers

Even as mobile devices explode in popularity, vendors such as Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Dell have found success in driving innovative technology and new form factors in their desktop portfolios.

Pricing for desktop brands has become particularly competitive in the second quarter of 2015, as the average price for desktops dropped to $595 from $616 in the same quarter a year ago, according to NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based market-research firm, which provides data from leading technology distributors.

The NPD Group's DistributorTrack sales database is primarily comprised of U.S. Global Technology Distribution Council members. Following are the top six most popular desktop brands in the second quarter, according to NPD Group.

6. Acer

Acer took the sixth spot for the most popular desktop brand in the second quarter, according to NPD Group.

Acer's desktop portfolio includes its Aspire T and Aspire X desktop series, which are collectively powered by Intel processors and run on varying Windows operating systems. The company's desktops have been praised as less expensive alternatives, with its Aspire X models costing as little as $249.99. The company also stepped up its efforts in the gaming market in April, unveiling the Predator Desktop for gamers with full HD Nvidia 3-D Vision as well as Nvidia PhysX support.

Acer, a Taiwan-based hardware company, fell 0.6 of a point in the second quarter to take 1.8 percent dollar share for desktop brands. That's down from the same quarter a year ago, where Acer took 2.3 percent of the share.

5. Asus

NPD Group ranked Asus as the fifth best-selling desktop brand in the second quarter. The company took 2 percent dollar share in the second quarter, down 0.9 of a point from the same quarter last year where it took 2.8 percent dollar share.

Asus, a Taiwan-based company that also manufactures tablets, phones and peripherals, offers gaming, multimedia and daily computing desktops that run on either Nvidia or AMD graphics and AMD or Intel Core processors. The company's desktops also run on Windows operating systems.

4. Dell

Dell was the fourth best-selling desktop brand in the second quarter. The company grew its dollar share from 9.4 percent in the second quarter of 2014 to 13 percent in the second quarter of this year.

Dell offers a bevy of desktops for various experiences, including the Inspiron desktop series for home and home office, the XPS desktop series for performance, and Alienware desktop models for high-performance gaming.

The company's OptiPlex small-form-factor desktop model, running on an Intel processor and Intel HD graphics, helped boost Dell's standing in the market.

3. Apple

Apple was ranked as the third best-selling desktop brand in the second quarter and increased its dollar share from the same period a year ago.

According to NPD Group, Apple took 13.5 percent dollar share, up 1.6 points from the same quarter last year, where it took 12 percent dollar share.

Apple's iMac models paved the way for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's success, with the 21.5-inch iMac, powered by an Intel Core i5 processor and running on the OS X 10.10 Yosemite operating system, ranking as one of the top desktop models in the second quarter.

2. Lenovo

While Lenovo came in second place as the best-selling desktop brand in the second quarter, its share declined from the same quarter a year ago.

Lenovo's dollar share fell 5.4 points from 31.7 percent in second-quarter 2014 to 26.3 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to NPD Group.

Lenovo offers a variety of desktops ranging from enterprise, all-in-one, home theater PCs and extreme-performance gaming PCs. Lenovo's ThinkCentre desktops, which are packed with power, security and management features, have made the company's products particularly popular with businesses. Its ThinkCentre M73 tiny desktop models have done particularly well, placing eighth and 10th as the top best-selling desktop models in the second quarter.

1. Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard was the top best-selling desktop brand in the second quarter, and saw slight growth from the same quarter in the previous year. The company took 43 percent dollar share, up 3.7 points from the same quarter last year.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company's built-for-business desktops range in price from the $179 Chromebox to the $769 EliteDesk 800 Small Form Factor.

Hewlett-Packard's EliteDesk 705, a mini desktop running on an AMD processor, proved particularly popular, placing second among the best-selling desktop models in the second quarter, according to NPD Group.