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PC Market Slow But Steady

Dell and Compaq duke it out for top spot, with Gateway, HP, and Packard Bell fighting for a distant third.

By Rebecca Sykes, PCWorld   

However, second-quarter PC shipments as calculated by International Data Corporation showed a worldwide rise of only 7 percent over the same quarter last year, with a 3 percent decline over the first quarter.

For U.S. vendors, shipments increased 12 percent for the quarter, according to a statement from Dataquest. IDC showed U.S. vendors boosting their shipments by 10 percent.

Though they differed on the figures, both Dataquest and IDC agreed that a battle for the top spot in the U.S. is being waged between Compaq and Dell, each of which have essentially equal market share. Dell shipped 72 percent more units in the U.S. than during the second quarter last year, and 21 percent more than during the first quarter, according to a statement from IDC. As for Compaq, its shipments increased 12 percent over the second quarter last year, buoyed by its purchase of Digital Equipment, though its overall market share declined slightly, according to a statement from Dataquest.

The second tier of vendors in terms of market share, which includes Hewlett-Packard, Gateway 2000, and Packard Bell NEC, are also very closely tied, with roughly 7.7 percent each, according to the statement from IDC.