HP Regains PC Sales Crown

Six months after its acquisition of Compaq temporarily gave it a slight lead in worldwide PC shipments, Hewlett-Packard has regained the top spot from Dell in the fourth quarter of 2002, according to market research firm IDC.

Overall, worldwide shipments of PCs grew 4 percent in the fourth quarter compared with last year, IDC researchers report.

Edging Dell

HP's market share of worldwide shipments in the fourth quarter was 16.1 percent, compared with Dell's market share of 15.7 percent. HP shipped 6.17 million units, with Dell trailing closely behind with 6.05 million units.

IBM placed third, shipping 2.25 million units, which comprise 5.8 percent of the market. IBM is followed by Fujitsu Siemens with 1.66 million units, or 4.3 percent of the market. NEC was fifth with 1.26 million units, or 3.3 percent of the market.

"HP is the stronger company among consumers, and consumers performed stronger than expected, especially in the U.S.," said Roger Kay, director of client computing at IDC.

U.S. consumers bought 6.6 percent more PCs this year during the fourth quarter than they did in the fourth quarter of 2001, IDC said. Growth in unit shipments was stronger than expected in the United States, due partly to aggressive pricing from HP and Dell, IDC said.

Competition Tight

HP's stronger international presence also contributed to its ranking in the fourth quarter, Kay said. PC shipments in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) posted especially strong double-digit growth, fueled by the continued growth of the China market. However, Europe remained weak with little improvement in sales to consumers, IDC said.

Dell did maintain its lead for the year overall, shipping 20.7 million units worldwide compared with HP's 18.4 million units. The HP numbers include shipments of Compaq PCs after the acquisition closed.

"We're calling it a horse race for the foreseeable future, over the next three quarters or so," Kay said.

Overall shipments for the year were up 1.5 percent, compared with a decline of 4.2 percent in 2001.

Gateway failed to grow its shipments from the third quarter of 2002 to the fourth quarter, despite strong PC sales among consumers, who are Gateway's target market, IDC said. Gateway placed third in U.S. shipments, with 700,000 units shipped in the fourth quarter.