Chinas Lenovo Group edged out Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard to become the worlds No 1 PC maker in the third quarter, according to data released by research house Gartner on Wednesday.
A rival to Gartner, IDC, still ranks HP in the lead but by less than half a percentage point in terms of PC shipments worldwide. Both studies reinforce HPs struggles against rivals as new chief executive Meg Whitman tries to overhaul the stalled 73-year-old company.
Worldwide shipments of personal computers fell over eight per cent in the third quarter to 87.5 million, the steepest decline since 2001, Gartner analysts said.
PC demand growth has crumbled over the past year as more consumers flock to ultra-portable and increasingly powerful tablets and smartphones for basic computing.
Its quite a tough year for PC makers because (Microsofts) Windows 8 is not launched yet and some consumers are waiting for that. Cannibalisation of tablet PCs is also another factor, said Eve Jung, an analyst with Nomura Securities in Taipei. Both sets of data show that Lenovo, Taiwans Acer and other Asian PC makers are taking share away from US competitors HP and Dell, which held on to the No 3 spot in the quarter. Lenovo, which has a market value of $8.2 billion, said it believed there was room for continued growth in the sector.
We are establishing even deeper roots in each major market around the world. In addition to localised sales and distribution teams in major markets, we are establishing an even stronger manufacturing footprint, Lenovo Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang said in a statement.
This year the company has bought Brazilian electronics maker CCE, valued at a base price of 300 million reais ($148 million), and US cloud computing firm Stoneware. Lenovos rise highlights the advance of Chinas technology firms on the world stage in recent years as a result of aggressive pricing, overseas acquisitions, and taking advantage of a fast-growing home market. The Chinese company, which vaulted into the PC market by buying IBMs personal computer division in 2005, took the top spot for the first time by growing its market share to 15.7 per cent, shipping an estimated 13.77 million units during the quarter, up nearly 10 per cent from a year ago, Gartner said.
HPs global PC share stood at 15.5 per cent after shipping 13.55 million units, down 16.4 per cent from a year ago, Gartner said, adding that this was the first time HP has not been the top-ranked PC vendor position since 2006. IDC had HP at the No 1 spot with a 15.9 per cent market share, marginally ahead of Lenovos 15.7 per cent share. HP responded to Gartners study by saying IDCs was more expansive.
While there are a variety of PC share reports in the market, some dont measure the market in its entirety, HP said in a statement. The IDC analysis includes the very important workstation segment, and therefore is more comprehensive.
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