HP has tied with Dell as the overall leading PC supplier
in 2006, and has pipped Dell to the top spot for the second
successive quarter.
According to analyst firm Gartner, in the fourth quarter of 2006 HP’s
worldwide PC shipments increased by 23.9%, giving it a market share
total of 17.4%.
While Dell remained in the number two position in the quarter,
its shipments fell by 8.7%, resulting in a market share total of
13.9%.
Dell’s leadership in the first two quarters of 2006 enabled it
to keep joint top spot with HP for the full year, but its
performance is on a downward path.
Dell was plagued with bad news in 2006. It had to recall 4.1
million laptop batteries after they posed a fire hazard, and it had
to delay its second and third quarter results because of
accountancy problems it still hasn’t cleared up.
By contrast, HP's boardroom spying scandal, which led to the
resignation of the company's chairman, didn’t affect the
performance of HP's PC division.
According to Gartner, worldwide PC unit shipments in the fourth
quarter grew by 7.4% compared with a year ago. During the quarter,
67.3 million units were shipped.
Gartner analysts said the overall PC market was affected by
stiff competition from the consumer electronics industry and the
upcoming Windows Vista launch, as potential buyers waited for the
latest bundled OS.
Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa said, “PC price erosion was a
defining feature of the quarter. In the consumer market, the PC
industry battled for wallet share against other consumer
electronics products, such as games consoles and flat-panel TVs,
while at the same time cutting prices to ensure market demand did
not stall prior to Microsoft’s Vista consumer launch in
January.”
Lenovo was number three in the PC shipment charts, followed by
Acer and Toshiba.
More information:
HP becomes top PC supplier
Dell faces lawsuit over fire-hazard laptop
batteries
First HP defendant pleads guilty to spying
scandal
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