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Worldwide PC shipments saw double-digit growth in the second quarter, the first time since the third quarter of 2000, according to preliminary market research released this week by Gartner.

Second-quarter shipments increased 10 percent from the same period last year to 32.8 million, the market research group says. That continues the growth seen last quarter.

Charles Smulders, vice president of Gartner's worldwide computing platforms group, says the PC industry is performing better than expected, suggesting that market conditions are improving. He warns, however, that sustained improvement will depend on economic conditions and their effect on the business upgrade cycle.

Recent survey data from Gartner confirms that U.S. corporate technology budgets remain tight. Consumers have contributed much of the increase, Gartner has noted.

Dell Leads Top Five

Four of the five top-tier vendors worldwide achieved double-digit growth rates in the second quarter. Dell is the number-one vendor with a 17.6 percent market share, shipping 5.8 million PCs in the second quarter compared with 4.6 million the year before. That represents a growth rate of 29.5 percent.

On the heels of Dell is Hewlett-Packard with 16.1 percent market share. In the second quarter, HP shipped 5.3 million PCs, compared with 4.7 million the year before, representing a growth rate of 12.1 percent.

Even though IBM increased its sales by 13.4 percent, shipping 2.2 million PCs, the company remains a distant third with a 6.7 percent market share.

Fujitsu, in fourth place, shipped 1.3 million units in the second quarter, or 10.8 percent more than the year before, accounting for a 4 percent market share.

NEC is the only top-five vendor to experience a second-quarter dip in shipments, which were down 2.7 percent. The vendor has a market share of 3.1 percent.

Second-quarter PC shipments in the United States rose 11.1 percent due in part to strong demand from the consumer and education segments, according to Gartner. Competitive pricing and mobile PCs were important drivers in the home market, Smulders says.

Regional Results

In the U.S. market, Dell also leads the pack with a second-quarter growth rate of 26.1 percent, shipping 3.7 million units. With a market share of 31.1 percent, the company nearly surpasses the combined 32.8 percent unit shipment share of HP, IBM, Gateway, and Apple, the other top four vendors, according to Gartner.

The PC market in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa performed above expectations in the second quarter, with unit shipments up 13 percent over the same period the year before, according to preliminary figures released by Gartner in a separate statement. This growth was the strongest in the region since 1999, the market research group says.

The positive growth rate, however, masks divergent trends in business and consumer PC demand, according to Gartner. While PC sales to consumers failed to rebound from the slowdown at the end of the first quarter of 2003, shipments to businesses accelerated, the researchers say.

PC shipments in the Asia-Pacific region fell below expectations. Gartner blames the downturn largely on the effects of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, on business activity in China. Data on unit shipments in the region were not immediately available.

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