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Lenovo outshines Dell to turn No. 2
By siliconindia
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Friday, 14 October 2011, 00:32 IST
Bangalore: According to data from two influential research firms, China's Lenovo overtook Dell to become the world's No. 2 PC maker for the first time, while Hewlett-Packard Co's personal computer shipments grew 5.3 per cent in the third quarter.
Tech research house Gartner said, while HP is scrambling to decide whether to keep or sell off its PC division by October end, now commands a 17.7 per cent share of an ailing global market, up marginally from 17.3 per cent a year ago.
Opponent firm IDC put HP's market share at 18.1 per cent. IDC also ranked HP, Lenopvo and Dell Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
A premature announcement has been speculated by Wall Street about the potential spin off of HP's largest division that would drive customers away.
Aided by a laptop-sales tie-up with Japan's NEC and aggressive marketing, Lenovo, expanded its market share to 13.5 per cent from 11.1 per cent, overshadowing Dell's 11.6 per cent.
While PC sales are buzzing as consumers turn gradually more to mobile devices from smartphones to tablets like Apple Inc's iPad, stumbling economies pressure corporate expenses on technology hardware.
But IDC foresee a rebound in 2012 as HP and other PC makers begin to crank out smaller "ultra-mobile" computers.
Jay Cho, senior research analyst with IDC, "For the moment, PCs have taken a backseat to a range of other devices competing for shrinking consumer and business budgets. While growth is expected to stay in mid-single digits in the fourth quarter, we should see faster growth in 2012 and beyond."
According to Gartner, U.S. PC shipments edged up to just 1.1 per cent to 17.8 million units in the third quarter. The firm said at the same time as it marked the first time shipments had grown in three straight quarters. HP particularly extended its shipments by 15.1 per cent in its home market
Budding markets like Lenovo's backyard, China, continues as a rare bright spot in an otherwise overcast outlook.
Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner said, "The PC industry has been performing below normal seasonality"
"As the PC market faced a slowdown, vendor consolidation has become a more apparent trend in the industry. Lenovo's recent merger with NEC, and its acquisition of Medion, as well as HP's announcement that it may spin off or sell its PC business, underlined this trend during the quarter."
