*NEWS*HP PASSES DELL.. WORLD PC SHIPMENTS

[Anonymous]

HP Passes Dell in World PC Shipments
SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 06) – Hewlett-Packard Co.
supplanted Dell Inc. as the world leader in personal computer shipments during
the third quarter, returning the bragging rights to Silicon Valley for the
first time in nearly three years, according to figures released Wednesday by
two influential research firms.Both Gartner Inc. and IDC pegged the overall
third-quarter growth of the global PC market at just under 7 percent, but that
trend was overshadowed by the industry’s new pecking order.The changing of the
guard occurred after HP’s shipments climbed by 15 percent from a year ago while
Dell’s edged up by less than 4 percent.By Gartner’s measure, Palo Alto-based HP
shipped 110,000 more PCs than Dell to give it a 16.3 percent share of the
global market compared to 16.1 percent for its Round Rock, Texas-based rival.It
marks the first time since 2003’s final quarter that HP – now the world’s
largest technology company – has held the top spot. HP expanded its PC business
in 2002 with its $19 billion acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. – a deal
engineered by HP’s former chief executive, Carly Fiorina, who is now touting
her accomplishments in a new memoir.IDC calculated things differently, but also
agreed HP holds a narrow lead in the global market. Although HP shipped 28,000
more PCs than Dell during the quarter, IDC pegged both companies market share
of the worldwide market at roughly 17 percent.Dell retained a substantial lead
in the U.S. market, where its dominance of the corporate market gives its a
major advantage, analysts said.Nevertheless, HP also narrowed the gap in the
United States, where its market share stood somewhere between 22 and 23
percent. Dell’s hovered between 31 and 32 percent, according to the research
firms.Both PC makers recently have been battling image problems brought on by
embarrassing incidents.HP has been rocked by revelations of the shady tactics
that investigators deployed in a cloak-and-dagger operation designed to plug a boardroom leak. The
subterfuge included obtaining personal phone records under false pretenses – a
scheme that culminated in congressional hearings and criminal charges against
five people, including HP’s former chairwoman.The scandal, which erupted in
early September, apparently didn’t deter the sales momentum that HP has been
building since Mark Hurd became chief executive during the spring of
2005.”HP continues execute well by taking advantage of the high-growth
markets, particularly the consumer market,” said Charles Smulders, a
Gartner vice president.In August, Dell recalled 4.1 million notebook computer
batteries made by Sony Corp. because they can overheat and catch fire. That
recall probably wasn’t a major factor in Dell’s lackluster third quarter
because desktop computer shipments accounted for most of the weakness, analysts
said.All the other major PC makers also picked up market share at Dell’s
expense in the third quarter. China’s Lenovo Group Ltd. remained third in the
worldwide PC market with a roughly 8 percent share, followed by Taiwan-based
Acer Inc. at 6 percent and Japan’s Toshiba Corp. at 4 percent.In the United
States, Apple Computer Inc.’s shipments rose by more than 30 percent from last
year, reflecting strong back-to-school demands for its notebooks. The
Cupertino-based company, which has become better known for its ubiquitous
iPods, ended the quarter with a 6 percent share of the U.S. market.Dragged down
by Dell, overall PC shipments fell by roughly 1 to 2 percent in the United
States, according to Gartner and IDC. It was the first time since the second
quarter of 2002 that U.S. PC shipments fell.The PC industry’s outlook for the
crucial holiday shopping season remains muddy because Microsoft Corp.’s new
operating system, the widely anticipated Vista, won’t be sold to consumers
until January.Loren Loverde, director of IDC’s worldwide quarterly PC tracker,
won’t necessarily discourage consumers from buying new computers during the
fourth quarter because retailers are expected to slash prices to clear their
shelves for the arrival of the new Vista-powered systems.”Consumers who
don’t mind buying a computer with Windows XP are going to get some very good
deals,” Smulders agreed.

[Author]

October 19, 2006 at 1:29 PM