El Segundo, Calif. — Dell Inc. has solidified its second place position in the global PC market thanks to strong corporate sales in the fourth quarter and Apple Inc.’s iPad, reported IHS iSuppli. The market research firm indicates that the No. 3 player Acer Inc.’s decline was driven by rising competition for its consumer-focused netbook and notebook computers from the iPad and other media tablets.
Dell’s market share lead in unit shipments rose 1.9 percentage points over Taiwan’s Acer, up from a 0.4 point gap in the third quarter. With flat shipments in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter, Dell’s market share lead was entirely due to a 12.9 percent drop for Acer, said IHS iSuppli.
Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, compute platforms, for IHS, said Dell edged out Acer for the No. 2 rank for the entire year by 0.7 percentage points of market share.
Global PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2010 totaled 93.1 million units, up 5.7 percent from 88.1 million in the third quarter of 2010, and a 4.7 percent increase from 88.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to IHS iSuppli’s latest PC report.
PC shipments during the fourth quarter hit a new quarterly record, surpassing the previous high of 88.9 million units set in the fourth quarter of 2009, said IHS.
In 2010, global PC shipments amounted to 345.4 million units, up 14.2 percent from 302.4 million in 2009. “Back in the depths of the 2009 recession, the PC industry would have been happy if 2010 brought single-digit growth in shipments,” Wilkins stated. “However, with the market coming back strong amid growth in the mid-teens, the PC industry will look back on 2010 as a year that exceeded expectations.”