Computer maker Dell may be trying to reinvigorate its sales figures with consumer-oriented systems like the Dell XPS One nd increasingly aggressive moves into retail channels around the world, but so far, the company is continuing to lose market share to competitors. According to third-quarter sales figures from market analysis firm iSuppli, Hewlett-Packard continued to expand its leading position in global PC sales, and Dell saw increased competition from Taiwan’s Acer, which sold enough notebook computers to take over the number two sales position in that category.
According to iSuppli, HP sold just over 13 million PCs worldwide during the quarter, grabbing 19.2 percent of the market and chalking up an overall 32.7 percent year-to-year increase in sales. Dell continued to move respectable numbers of systems and kept its overall number two ranking, selling 9.9 million systems in the third quarter compared to 9.77 million in the same quarter last year, keeping 14.6 percent of the PC market, but seeing overall year-to-year sales growth of only 1.5 percent. No other single manufacturer represented more than 10 percent of the global PC market, with Lenovo and Acer almost neck-and-neck for the third and fourth slots, respectively, with Toshiba coming in number 5.
HP continued to grow its market share by leveraging its strong presence in the retail channel, as well as exploiting its strength in notebook computers. However, the real story among notebooks is Taiwan’s Acer, which, combined with strong sales in the Asia-Pacific region, saw the company post a 68 percent year-to-year growth in sales. Acer also recently acquired U.S. computer maker Gateway, which should see the company increasing its presence in the North American market.
