Dell climbs to second spot in worldwide PC market

Computer-maker Dell moved to the second spot in the worldwide personal computer (PC) market in the second quarter of 2011. The company’s rise was aided by improved sales in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a survey.

“Dell moved to the second place in the worldwide PC market for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2008. The company did well in the Asia Pacific region, where it had invested heavily lately. Professional PC refreshments definitely boosted Dell’s growth,” according to Gartner, which had carried out a survey.

HP continued to be the worldwide leader, accounting for 17.5 per cent of worldwide PC shipments in the second quarter of 2011. Lenovo achieved strong growth in the Asia Pacific region, the US and Latin America. This saw the company at the third slot for both desktops and mobile PCs, according to the survey.

Meanwhile, worldwide PC shipments surpassed 85.2 million units in the second quarter of 2011, a 2.3 per cent increase, compared with the same period last year, according to Gartner. “After strong growth in shipments of consumer PCs for four years, driven by strong demand for mini-notebooks and low-priced consumer notebooks, the market is shifting to modest, but steady growth. The slow overall growth indicates the PC market is still in a period of adjustment, which began in the second half of 2010,” said Gartner principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa.

Acer dropped from the second place to the fourth in the worldwide PC market in the second quarter of 2011. “It had a great deal of inventory in the distribution channel in Europe, West Asia and Africa. Acer's problems stemmed from its low-price, high-volume business model, which is no longer effective,” the survey said.

In the Asia Pacific region, PC shipments reached 30.5 million units in the second quarter, a 9.6 per cent increase, compared with the same period last year.

India showed weaker-than-expected consumer demand, while China's PC market grew 10.9 per cent year-on-year. “The growth in China was attributed to the release of pent-up demand for consumer PCs,” the survey said.