Computer Shipments Down On Last Year

Computer shipments between April and June were down 5% on last year, but that's less that was expected.

World computer shipments between April and June were down 5% on the same period last year, according to research group Gartner. While that news is hardly surprising, it’s better than expected, since the company had forecast a 9.8% drop.

With over 19% of PC shipments, Hewlett-Packard remained top dog, and actually increased its market share from last year’s 18.1%, due to what Gartner termed “aggressive” price cuts.

Dell remained runner up, but its share fell from 15.6% to 13.6%, probably due to the company deciding to “protect its margins” rather than go in for big price cuts.

Acer, Lenovo, and Toshiba took third, fourth, and fifth places.

The major growth area, Gartner noted, was in netbooks, where shipments soared by 20%.